Feelings that Follow Rebirth
by PandoraAbyss
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke have died after their final battle. But, in their dying thoughts they make one last wish - to see each other again. Hundreds of years later, the sun and moon meet under the names Kyoya Hibari and Sawada Tsunayoshi. (Originally a Series that got compacted into this fic)
1. Rebirth and Fate

**This story was placed together from the series under the same title, Feelings that Follow Rebirth.**

 **This specific chapter, Rebirth and Fate, is rewritten from the original. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Early morning light shone over two bodies, two soulmates that had just had a massive battle which lasted for hours. They lay, bleeding out beside each other, exhausted from the fight as well as the emotions they had just poured out. It was a mutual understanding – they loved each other. They loved each other so deeply it was almost hard to understand from the point of view of anyone looking on.

But alas, this wasn't the world for them. This wasn't the place for their love to blossom. Fate didn't smile on them in this life.

The blonde, the sun of the two, coughed softly. He could feel himself draining from energy quickly. He just wanted to sleep, but he refused to leave the other alone. "Sasuke?"

"…yeah?"

"We're dying, aren't we?"

"…I thought that was obvious, idiot." The other, the moon, spoke softly as he said this, a fond sadness in his voice.

They turned to each other, committing how each other looked to memory, even though they already remembered every detail, down to every strand of hair.

"Sasuke?" He gave him a weak smile, the other's heart skipped a beat at the loving blue eyes. "If Sakura…can't make it…and…and we die…. If we're reborn…I…I want to see you again. And maybe then…we can…"

Sasuke swallowed. "I want to see you too." He replied truthfully.

Naruto's smile widened, and he laughed happily, only to stop as he began coughing. The light made him look beautiful, Sasuke hoped he would remember this scene in their new life. "It's a promise then! You…you better come find me, you bastard."

"…I will. It's a promise."

They sat mostly in silence from there, which was only broken by Naruto every once in a while.

But, half an hour later, they hadn't seen pink hair appear before them. And the silence had gone on for too long. Naruto was too still. Sasuke could feel his own life on its last, thin string. He closed his eyes, ready to die, especially if it was so his soul could see Naruto's again. If it was so, in another life, they could be in a happier place together.

He wished. He wished and wished that whoever was watching over them would let them be together.

He let out his last breath and let his soul move on.

O~O~O

Hibari Kyoya was a smart, cold, and ruthless child; a bit too strong and a bit too blunt. Unable to properly show his emotions and it _scared_ those around him. He had beat down fully grown adults by time he was ten, and his mother was frightened of him, often calling him terrible things and or outright ignoring him on her worst days.

He was often confused, memories not his own plagued him at night when he tried to sleep and sometimes during the day. The memories were fuzzy, though he could decipher it enough to know then, he sought revenge to the point where it was almost an obsession. He had made a promise, a promise to his most important person, a blonde ray of sunshine. He made mistakes – many, _many_ mistakes back then, that jolt him out of those flashbacks and he has to force himself to calm down.

But, somehow, with these dreams – these _memories_ – he was able to become stronger. He began to see himself as above those other weaklings – which he began to call herbivores. He decided a while ago it was perhaps the easiest thing to name them, placing himself as a carnivore (the _only_ carnivore).

Then, he found Namimori. It was a regular middle school, but he oddly found a…connection, with it. It felt like his own goal, or ambition in those dreams.

In the end, he became near obsessed with "keeping the peace" in Namimori. It helped clear his head of all those feelings. From remembering the sunshine that filled his heart, the one he felt love for even if it was only from dreams.

Then, of course, he met Tsunayoshi Sawada.

O~O~O

Tsunayoshi Sawada had a very good reason for his particularly low self-esteem – he wasn't good at anything. He wasn't even _average_. He always failed, from his grades, to his athletic skills, it earned him the title of "no good Tsuna." His mother was no better than his classmates and teachers. She worried for him, and often reprimanded him for his view of school but she seemed to be slowly giving up as well. He didn't really blame her.

Sometimes – actually, most of the time – he wished he was like the boy he seemed to be in his dreams. Even though he was no good with grades, he always smiled and fought for what he believed in, especially the dark haired cocky boy who always seemed to show up. His other self, the person he was in his dreams, he always seemed to be fighting the boy, though had a strangely close connection with him.

It was weird, but he often felt something more… _romantic_ , when it came to him. It took until his dream-self moved on to become around the age of 14 that he realized he was in _love_ with the cocky dark haired boy. Immediately, he went in complete denial mode, instead clinging onto the pretty girl with pink hair in his dream, much like his dream-self did.

In real life, though, he found that there was a pretty girl, who was really nice named Kyoko. Almost instantly, much like his dream-self did with the pink haired girl, "fell" for her. Well, more like he was in denial about his feelings towards the dark-haired boy. Besides, the dark-haired boy didn't exist in _real_ life, so he wouldn't have to worry about these feelings spilling over, right?

But, one morning, he was late – horribly so. That's when he officially met the infamous Hibari Kyoya.

O~O~O

It was a fairly normal day when they finally met face to face. Hibari was on patrol, hovering near the entrance of the school to do his routine "biting" to people who were late. He had already bitten a couple herbivores to death, and watched as they struggled to go into the building. A boy with brown hair came rushing in, and he glared, ignoring the yelp of surprise when he stepped in the boy's path.

"You're late." He readied his tonfa. "I'll bite—" The boy's brown eyes met his, and he froze, fully taking in how he looked.

His hair spiked up, it was horribly messy like it had never met a brush in its life – _familiar, way too familiar, his sunshine often complained about brushes and never used them._ He stared fearfully with light brown eyes – _but if they were blue he would look so much like his sunshine…_. He was short, only reaching his shoulders – _his sunshine was short, and grumbled about it fairly often…._

He gritted his teeth, hope was rising in his chest but he tried to squash it down. After years of not finding his sunshine, he had practically given up. This couldn't be his sunshine, and he couldn't let a boy who _looked_ like him get in his way.

"Um…are you…you're Hibari-san, right?"

Dark eyes focused on the smaller male, who yelped and cowered. No, this definitely wasn't like him at all. This _herbivore_ was too weak and spineless.

He raised a tonfa, and hesitated. The other looked fearful but…curious. With a noise of annoyance, he looked away from him.

"Move. Run. Before I bite you to death."

The herbivore immediately ran past him, and he rolled his eyes.

He glanced down at the tonfa in his hands. Had he gone soft? One boy reminded him of his _sunshine_ and he _hesitated_.

But still…that boy…could he be…?

His heart beat fast and he gripped his chest. He wanted to call that boy back. He wanted to pull him into his arms and never let go, begging him to be his light.

O~O~O

As Tsuna ran to his classroom, he couldn't help but think of Hibari. He looked far too much like that cocky dark-haired boy in his dreams. From his cold eyes to how battle ready he seemed…he was a bit too much like him. It made his heart clench. It made him want to turn back around and go back to him.

He saw the similarities. It scared him.

What if he started to feel _like that_ for Hibari?

As he stood in front of his classroom, he made a decision. He would avoid Hibari at all costs. So far, in his dreams, the boy had left him and he didn't know how _finding_ him ends. But, he didn't want it to end like that – being heartbroken and alone and _betrayed_. He wasn't like himself from his dreams. He was a coward. He couldn't handle heartbreak.

So, no matter what, he would avoid it. He _has_ to.

Even if a part of him made him want to follow the boy to the ends of the earth and make promises he would keep, even if it ended him.


	2. Official Meeting

**This Chapter, Official Meeting, is edited from the original that was uploaded.**

* * *

Hibari told himself he was going to ignore the boy – Sawada Tsunayoshi – once he got his feelings and memories in check. But…that was _far_ easier said than done. How was he supposed to keep calm, collected and _rational_ when a part of him was screaming that his soulmate, his _sunshine_ , was so close? The one he had been born into this life for? He could be calm. He could be collected.

But rational? That was reserved for other times.

So, he ended up making mental and verbal excuses to be around his sun – _Sawada_ – more often. He took more patrols from his subordinates that often went around Sawada's classroom in an attempt to catch a glimpse of him. He would hover near the entrance in the mornings to see if Sawada would be late again. But it seemed he learned his lesson from their first meeting. He never saw him.

Thoughts of Sawada plagued him often nowadays. He was practically becoming a new obsession next to Namimori.

He was…fond of having an obsession. It gave him something to focus on. It gave him a path to follow. In his past life, it was revenge. In this life, it's Namimori.

And now Sawada was taking a place on that list.

But, he wasn't brash. He knew he had to keep his distance. Sawada wasn't like his fearless sunshine, who attracted people with how loud and bright he was. No, Sawada kept his own shine under wraps and cowered at the view of judging eyes. He flinched at pain and backed away from challenges.

If he learned Hibari was watching him closely, he would avoid him even more.

It was annoying, but Hibari was patient enough to watch and wait. Weeks passed as he watched and waited. If his subordinates noticed, they didn't say anything. When he asked Kusakabe for a file on Sawada, he had seemed curious but knew better than to ask questions. With that, along with a few glares to scared teachers, he easily got more information on Sawada.

He was a slacker. He skipped class. He didn't have many friends – in fact most of the school bullied him. He gritted his teeth at the thought. It was too familiar to the past, where his sunshine hated school and skipped class and hated the glares other students and adults would give him. He hated watching his pain.

It was no difference in this life, even if he wasn't seeing it firsthand.

But no. No, no this wasn't…him. This wasn't his sunshine. No matter the similarities, no matter how he felt…Sawada wasn't his sunshine, right? He'd have to just meet him face to face, to figure it out…

No, it was probably better if he didn't. If he just…lets this blow off.

Perhaps, if things had not shifted, if that person hadn't come…things would have stayed the same. They never would have met.

But that wasn't what fate wanted for them in this life, was it?

O~O~O

Tsuna wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Ever since meeting Hibari on that fateful day outside the school, he couldn't get the intimidating boy out of his head. It made it even harder to focus on his studies – not that he was focusing much in the first place. But thinking about him made him want to run up to him and just start…talking to him, or getting to know him, or just be _around him_. It was strange for him, a nobody who didn't have any friends and no one was interested in being around him... Perhaps it was because he was like that cocky dark haired boy in his dreams…

Still, it was strange and made him feel _odd_. He avoided Hibari was well as he could. The boy is the leader of the disciplinary committee, so he made sure to try and get to school early (or, sneak in through other ways, it seemed a majority of the committee and school didn't seem to realize there were some holes in the patrols and the surrounding school walls). He minimized how long he spent in hallways and practically ran home as soon as class ended, or he would skip.

But, for the first time in _years_ , he felt himself getting _antsy_. Every time he caught a glimpse of the dark hair, he got urges to run up to him, talk to him, tease him, smile at him, banter with him…

It was getting harder to ignore.

He was sure they were never going to meet again. Hibari wasn't interested in him (not that he was hoping Hibari would think of him like _that_!) but there was no way he would go up to him on his own.

Then came the faithful day he heard that word that changed his life forever.

"Ciaossu."

That was perhaps the strangest day of his life – not counting the "days" that he had in his dream. He "died," then he asked out Kyoko, then the _next day_ he fought the leader of the Kendo club, where he proceeded to eat another bullet to win.

"Dying Will" was far more powerful than he thought, and reminded him of the weird power he used in his dreams. What was it called? Cat-ra?

From there, things got stranger and…better.

Despite the strange things: Learning he's supposed to become some _mafia boss_ of all things, and having a _hitman baby_ as a tutor, he _also_ managed to at least get on speaking terms with Kyoko.

He got new friends through the power of Dying Will: first, the school and his peers began to respect him – _a strange part of him nearly began crying with relief at that revelation, like the feeling of having no one was always around_ – he gained two new friends: Gokudara and Yamamoto. _He had gained two new friends then too…_

Then…Reborn suggested one day that they need a hideout.

Tsuna was terribly suspicious of what he could be planning. Everything Reborn got him involved into usually ended with trouble – _a strange part of him wanted to get into trouble, welcomed it in fact_. But, his new friends were extremely up for it, especially when Reborn suggested a room in particular – _suspicious, but why not check it out?_

O~O~O

For a second time, brown eyes met black.

O~O~O

Hibari thought that at some point, he would crack. That he would be the one to corner his sun- Sawada – and confront him. He would try to see if he really _was_ that person he thought he was.

Perhaps he should have seen this coming, knowing his track record in the _past_. But, somehow, he hadn't thought Sawada would waltz right into the place he claimed for his committee.

But, he had come in with those two _herbivores_ he had begun hanging out with (he usually ignored the stab of jealousy when he saw them hanging out). They would be a nuisance if he wanted to talk to his sunshine…

He took out one smoking first – he had a horrible distaste for smoking, not only was it against school policy for students to be with any drugs on school grounds, the smoke never seemed to agree with his lungs. He barely bothered to check if he was conscious. Either way, it would take a while for him to find the energy to get up.

The next one, the one who plays…was it basketball? Soccer? It didn't matter, but he was slightly harder to take out. It became easier once he realized he was favoring his right hand, and in a split second, he was down as well.

He settled his gaze on Sawada, slowly calming down from that _thrill_ he felt defeating his opponents. Sawada was shivering.

Shit. He scared him.

Doubt settled in his mind for a moment, his _sunshine_ was never scared. His _sunshine_ would have _glared_ at him for hurting his friends.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. There was a squeak in his voice. "Y-You knocked them out…"

"Sawada." He took a step towards him. What would he say? He needed to know, but…what the hell would shock his memory? What would make him believe him?

He let out a frightened squeak and backed up to the wall. "I-I'm sorry, we didn't realize this room was-"

"Sawada. _Stop talking._ " He ordered, stopping right in front of him. He could practically see a carbon copy of his sunshine take his place. _His hair, those eyes, he was him, he must be…_

What could he say?

"H-Hibari-san…" Tsuna winced, he expected to get hit, obviously.

He dropped the tonfa, a clear indication he wasn't going to hurt him. Tsuna's eyes widened, and he stared at him. There wasn't as much fear anymore, mostly suspicion and curiosity. Good. But his guard didn't drop, and he still seemed tense. Less good.

"What…are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you…or ask you something." Good. It was a good start.

Fear was still in those brown eyes, but it was leaving slowly. "What is it?" He seemed far more curious now, but kept firmly pressed against the door, trying to keep at least an arm's length of distance between them.

Hibari respected the distance as his mind raised through the _past_ memories. What could he say? What was the memory, the _word_ he would recognize? He could barely remember their _names_.

Names…

He stared at him, right into those brown eyes.

"…usuratonkachi."

Those eyes widened in obvious familiarity. "Y-You're…?!" He blurted out almost immediately. A weight lifted off Hibari's shoulders. _It was him._

Tsuna looked surprised, he seemed like he was going through an immense revelation. He blinked a few times, as if confused or disoriented. "B-But…you…those dreams…"

 _Idiot. You thought those were just dreams?_ Hibari bit back a fond chuckle. He didn't really change as much as he thought. Of course, the idiot would think those are _dreams_ first.

"They weren't dreams. They were memories. Of your past life. _Our_ past life."

Tsuna stared at him longer, obviously trying to process what he just learned. "…Hibari-san..."

"Hibari." He corrected him immediately. It felt…odd to have him speak so _formally_ with him. He never spoke formally with anyone in the past, but he also knew he wouldn't immediately start calling him by his first name.

"…Hibari," Tsuna corrected himself hesitantly, "…you were…him. And I was…" Tsuna shook his head. "But I'm…I'm not…"

"Ciaossu."

They turned and Hibari picked up his tonfa in preparation. He didn't know what he really expected, but the _last_ thing was a _baby._ Especially not a baby that was _wielding a gun_. But he's seen stranger before. The baby seemed like a fighter, and he slipped into a battle-ready position, standing so Tsuna was protected behind him.

"Wait – wait! Hibari, don't!" Tsuna slipped from behind him, putting his arms out to block him from fighting the baby. "He's a friend…kind of."

"I'm your home tutor, Reborn." The baby corrected him almost immediately.

Hibari raised an eyebrow, but relaxed. How had Tsuna managed to get a _baby_ to become his _"home tutor_?"

Tsuna groaned, covering his face in obvious embarrassment. "Don't ask. Not yet. It's like…like Pervy Sage." He froze and blinked a few times, as if processing what he just said. "…weird…" He muttered to himself.

 _So, we remember more the more memories we accept, hm?_ He observed fairly easily, before turning his attention back to the baby – Reborn.

"What do you want?" Hibari immediately asked, he itched for a fight, though with Tsuna there his priorities found themselves at a standstill. It was obvious Tsuna wasn't the fighter he was back _then_ and he could possibly get hurt in the crossfire if neither are careful enough.

"Look, Hibari, Reborn," Tsuna interrupted, his voice low and at a murmur, "how about we talk more about this later? I have a headache and all I wanna do is lay down." Tsuna was busy rubbing his temples, grimacing with pain.

"…fine. Later. I'll come by your house."

" _What_?"

"Ugh…Tenth…that's going on?"

O~O~O

There was too much to process in such a short amount of time. Finding out the _dreams_ were actually _memories_ was something in itself. Then, realizing Hibari was actually the boy he had a crush – was _rivals with_ in those memories and now having to get Hibari up to speed…

It was madness. His head was _killing_ him now, as the past memories were starting to collide with his current ones.

But of course, it had to get worse.

Gokudera woke up.

Tsuna should have expected him to freak out as soon as he caught sight of the scene. Reborn was standing on the table, Hibari was practically hovering over him, and he seemed to be in some kind of pain. It was no wonder that he took out his dynamite as soon as his eyes focused.

"Tenth! Get away from him!"

"W-Wait!" Tsuna sidestepped in front of Hibari almost immediately, his body practically moved on his own. He could see the blatant surprise on Gokudera's face. He wondered what it looked like, someone as small as him defending someone so tall, and so obviously dangerous. Someone who had just _attacked_ them just 3 minutes ago. "Gokudera, you can't hurt him!" Over-protectiveness from memories not from this life bubbled in him. Something deep in him _screamed_ that Hibari needed to be protected. That other people wouldn't hesitate to hurt him, that it was _his job_ to make sure Hibari was alright.

"W-What?! Tenth, what the hell are you saying?" Though surprised, he _still_ didn't lower his weapon. Tsuna felt frustration, stubbornness, and protectiveness fuel his actions.

"Gokudera just…drop the dynamite." He tried to ask as politely as "Tsuna" would, even though this other person, the one Hibari called "usuratonkachi," was starting to surface as well.

"But Tenth-!"

"Gokudera just _drop the stupid dynamite_!" He snapped.

The room went silent and he slapped his hands over his mouth, embarrassment and horror clear on his face. He had just _yelled_ at Gokudera – he snapped at him! That wasn't like him at all!

 _But that's what I'm like in the past…_

He almost shook his head. He…needed more time on this. He just needed time to _think_.

Ignoring his strange thoughts for now, and past memories colliding with current ones, he looked up at Gokudera, who had obediently dropped the dynamite. He was looking away, lighting a cigarette.

"No smok-"

Tsuna gave Hibari a look. _Don't. Please. Not now._

Hibari looked back. _…Fine._

…why did this form of communication feel so…familiar?

Tsuna sighed and turned to Reborn, who seemed to be watching with his usual unreadable expression. "Reborn...Hibari can come back to the house, right?"

He felt Hibari's gaze on him – his gaze barely seemed to leave him, but he ignored it for the moment. If he focused on it to long he would probably start _blushing_.

"Yes, of course. He'll be joining your Family after all."

 _So that's why he brought us here…_ Tsuna felt tired, too tired to express annoyance at his home tutor. He turned to Gokudera next. "Can you carry Yamamoto-san?"

"Y-Yeah, Tenth." Gokudera wasn't looking at him as he passed him. He winced with regret.

 _I really shouldn't have snapped like that…_ Tsuna bit his lip; guilt ate at him. He put on his mental to do list to apologize to Gokudera later.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he jumped, nearly screeching. He glanced up timidly to see it was Hibari. It was odd, familiar yet _not_. The memories of his _past_ told him that initiating contact with him was normal, but memories from _now_ made him immediately tense.

Hibari seemed to notice his mental battle, because he pulled his hand away a second later. "…are we going now?"

"U-Um…" He almost deflated with how expectant Hibari looked for _him_ to take the leadership position. "I…I guess?"

"Be more assertive, idiot Tsuna." Reborn said immediately, throwing something at him that Hibari could before it could barely reach his face.

"I don't like you." Hibari suddenly announced bluntly (Tsuna almost laughed at the bluntness. It was so _him_ , so _familiar_ ) to the hitman, who only seemed to shrug.

"You don't have to." Reborn answered, obviously not caring what they thought of him. "Now, let's go Tsuna. _You_ need to explain everything."

" _Me_?! Why _me_?!"

Yamamoto woke up shortly before they arrived at Tsuna's house and didn't question much. In fact, once it was certain he wouldn't have any lasting damage, ("I didn't hit to kill or break bones…usually. Only to keep them unconscious for a while." Hibari sounded a little offended they expected him not to be good at controlling himself) Yamamoto went home.

Gokudera didn't.

In fact, he was very adamant about staying and "Protecting Tenth." By the way he blatantly glared at Hibari – who obviously didn't care about his presence in the slightest – he was sure Hibari was going to attack him as soon as they were alone.

Tsuna let him come. He'd have to see for himself that Hibari wouldn't hurt him.

His mother was ecstatic that he brought home a new friend – _it was odd, now, walking in and see his mother in the kitchen, waiting for him to come home. He almost felt like breaking down into sobs._ And she immediately began making more food, shooing them upstairs.

So now it was him, a calm, observant Hibari, a glaring Gokudera, and Reborn, looking nonchalant as always, sitting on his hamper.

The silence was tense, and it seemed that Hibari was the only one who couldn't feel it, instead looking around the room, his eyes getting more amused by the second.

"…your room looks how I expected." He suddenly said. "Messier than your schoolwork." Tsuna could tell there was no real malice behind it, but of course, Gokudera didn't.

"HEY!" Gokudera slammed his hands on the table, practically growling. "What the _hell_ are you trying to say about Tenth—" He stopped abruptly when Tsuna began _snickering_. "T-Tenth?"

Tsuna couldn't help himself. After the crazy day, the headache, his memories, for Hibari to manage to say something so _casual_ and _familiar_ just…hit him somehow.

"Hey, no _fair_ , you don't know how my schoolwork is _now_." He snickered.

"I do actually. It's quite well known if you ask just anyone about you. Way to get known for your grades. _Twice._ "

"I wasn't _just_ known for my grades back then…" He pulled a pout. Hibari seemed amused.

"Oh, I know. You were such a—"

"Hey!" Gokudera slammed his hands against the table. "What the hell are you two talking about?! Do you two… _know_ each other?"

"I'm curious to know too." Reborn spoke up, his usual unreadable expression seemed to have a hint of suspicion. "You two didn't seem to talk until now."

"Um…" He glanced at Hibari. _Should I tell them?_

He gave him a look before glancing away. _It doesn't matter to me._

Tsuna sighed. "It's um…I-I guess the answer is yes and no. Once we know more ourselves…we can tell you."

"All you have to know is that I'll be around more often." Hibari said bluntly

Gokudera frowned, "Oh..." A smile appeared on his face. "Alright! I'll trust you, Tenth!"

Tsuna sighed in relief. "…thank you, Gokudera."

"Idiot Tsuna," Reborn spoke up again, "explain to him about joining your family."

" _What_?!" Tsuna sputtered. "I _barely_ know what that's about!"

He yelped as another pinecone was thrown at him, another one that Hibari easily caught.

 _Seriously, where is he getting all those pinecones?!_

"Just explain it to me, baby. I barely expect Tsuna to know the whole story."

" _Hey_!" Tsuna whined almost immediately. It wasn't like him, but it felt _familiar._ Even Gokudera and Reborn seemed surprised.

Reborn, after a moment, took the next few minutes – with diagrams that seemingly appeared from nowhere – to explain how Tsuna somehow got involved with the whole mess with the mafia.

Hibari…barely seemed surprised.

"So, you're still getting into trouble huh? At least you're not looking for it this time."

Tsuna crossed his arms, ready to retort when he stopped. Of the memories he _had,_ he knew that he _did_ get into trouble. A lot. Mostly because he'd go looking for it himself.

"…yeah I know."

Hibari stared at him for a moment, surprise and confusion in his eyes (Tsuna felt his heart drop. That's definitely not what he would do in his _past_ right?). After a moment he stood, and opened the only window in the room. He grasped the side and already began to climb out. "…I should go. I'll talk to you later, Tsuna."

"W-Wait, a second! You're…not staying for dinner? My…mom…is making a lot…" _A part of him was tense, taking his mind back to a small messy apartment. Where he was completely alone…_

Tsuna sighed in relief, the part of him that felt _alone_ slipped away. He ignored Gokudera's groan and grumbled objections that Hibari promptly ignored to focus on his headache and conflicting memories.

He'd…really have to sort out his mind later…


	3. Memory

Headaches became a very frequent occurrence for Tsuna, after learning who Hibari was, and learning that his dreams were actually _memories._ Some days, it was even hard to distinguish who he was. It was like living in a warm tank of water for a while and then being thrown into a cold one, while some warm water being thrown his way. But it didn't really help. He was still _cold._

There were some days he would wake up completely disoriented, squinting around his room, wondering why it wasn't a small, messy apartment. He'd look at his hair and eyes and be startled when he didn't see blonde and blue back at him. There were times when he'd walk downstairs to see his mother, and be startled that there was an adult providing him with a breakfast that was more than just cup ramen, bread and milk.

In fact, there was even a moment where he came home from school, disoriented when she said, "Welcome home!" It was incredibly embarrassing, but he had actually broken down into sobs for at least a full minute. She didn't ask any questions, but she did hug him – the maternal affection felt so weird. He felt starved for it, even though he's had it for thirteen years.

It was tiring, some days he would even stop and have sudden flashbacks to his _past_. Then, he'd have to sit and try, in a haze, to sort it from his current memories. It was absolutely _terrible_ – he didn't realize just how…lonely and tragic his life used to be. How had he kept smiling and making friends? How had he kept _fighting_? If he was like how he was _now_ he would have given up a long time ago.

The worst, though, was suddenly getting those memories _in class_.

Like…for example…

He was sitting in probably one of the most boring classes – math. He's hated it for as long as he could remember (in both lives, at least what he could remember from his _past_ life). Besides, the teacher was a bit of an ass and seemed to have it out for him. It was like he was hard wired to _know_ when he's not listening. Or he had an alarm in his head to tell him _exactly_ when he was starting to nod off.

Tsuna had to admit, he's skipped math quite a bit (usually he was caught and dragged back but, details) and he's had terrible grades (he's had terrible grades in every class but again, details) so that was probably the reason this particular teacher had it out for him…

So, like usual, his mind began to wander as his teacher rattled off numbers and equations and letters and things that he generally didn't want to think about. It felt like white noise was buzzing through his head before something…started to hum in his mind. The numbers became words and he was thrown into a different body, a different time and a different place.

 _It was cold, he was tired, covered in scratches and needles pierced through his skin. He could barely stand, barely even_ _move_ _. There were mirrors surrounding them – them? Yes,_ _he_ _was there, his rival, standing in front of him and-_

 _No._

 _No no no no_

 _NonononoNO_

 _Words could barely leave his mouth as he caught the falling boy, who proceeded to whisper familiar words to him, moving his hand up towards him – a hand that went limp only a minute later._

 _He was dead._

 _He died to save him._

 _The enemy said pitying words as he hugged his rival, his friend. Rage filled him. Pure_ _rage_ _fueled his thoughts, fueled his body. He wanted to hurt him. He wanted to hurt him as badly as this boy he cared for so much was hurt._

 _He wanted to_ _kill_ _._

 _It went red. So, so red it was almost all he could see. The mirrors were destroyed, and with every angry fiber in his being he_ _lunged._

The vision began to dissipate and his vision went white before slowly he came back to his present. He blinked a few times, his vision still blurred but there were a couple people around him. He could make out Gokudera's worried face, practically hovering over him and protecting him with his body. Yamamoto was frowning, looking far more serious than he's seen him lately. There was talking, mostly people giggling and whispering.

"Tenth! Tenth you're ok…"

"Wha…?" His throat felt dry and he could barely speak.

"If Sawada is up, get him back in his seat so we can continue."

He had almost forgotten he was still in class…his body was shaking –with fear? Rage? He couldn't tell. His body and part of his mind was still in the memory, in that body full of darkness and rage and ready to _kill_.

Gokudera was glaring at their teacher, practically growling, "You asshole-!"

"Sensei, maybe it would be better if we take Tsuna to the nurse." Yamamoto interrupted, his voice as cheerful as usual though there was a light edge to it.

"…fine."

"Tenth, can you stand?" Gokudera immediately asked.

He tried, but he was still shaking. His mind told him he should be exhausted while his body was fine. Hesitantly, he shook his head.

Almost immediately, Gokudera picked him up and walked out of class, Yamamoto not far behind.

"So, what happened?" Yamamoto asked worriedly as they walked off.

"…I don't know…what did you guys see?" He asked hesitantly, unsure what to tell them.

"…it was scary." Gokudera muttered. "You just…collapsed suddenly. You started crying and shaking violently and muttering things."

"H-How long was I like that?"

"Only about a minute." Yamamoto assured him.

"So what _was_ that all about?! We were worried you were dying or something!"

"I…guess I fell asleep and um…started having a nightmare?" It was a lame excuse, but it was all he could think of. How could he tell his friends that he collapsed because he had been thrown into a terrifying flashback?

…god what a horrible flashback it was. He hasn't gotten something that _terrifying_ yet, but it was just his luck that it was in the middle of class.

Not to mention him.

Oh god, _Hibari._

Tsuna clutched his chest as he felt it tighten and his breath quicken, his heart beat faster. He could hear Gokudera call his nickname in worry but he ignored him.

He needed to see Hibari.

He needed to touch him and hear him speak. His body and mind was so _sure_ that he had left him dead on a cold, wet ground after just saving his life. But the other part of his brain knew Hibari was somewhere in the building.

As his mind focused a little, he realized they had arrived at the nurse's office. No one was there, and Gokudera gently placed him down on one of the beds.

"Will you be ok?" Yamamoto asked?

"…yeah." He answered timidly. "You two should head back to class."

"But _Tenth_ , what if-"

"I won't er…fall asleep." He quickly assured Gokudera, who frowned. He was never good at persuading people, but he didn't really want to explain that he needed to see Hibari. "But sensei will be mad if you two stay here too long."

"Yeah, let's go Gokudera! He'll be fine."

Gokudera scowled, cursing Yamamoto out as they both left.

Tsuna felt his heartbeat in his ears as he stared down at the sheets of the bed. He waited until the footsteps died down before he swung his legs down to the floor and shakily stood up.

Where was Hibari right now?

He slowly walked over to the door, just reaching out when it suddenly opened. He let out a yelp, backing up. He looked up and familiar dark eyes looked back down at him.

"I heard you collapsed in class." Hibari let himself in, sitting at one of the beds closer to the door. "What happened?"

Silently, Tsuna shuffled over to the taller boy and sat next to him as close as possible. When he didn't move away, he leaned on him and muttered, "…a memory. I zoned out and got a flashback in class."

"…which one?"

"Land of Waves." The words came easily to him, it connected in his head but at the same time it _didn't_. He curled up, pulling his knees to his chest. "I saw you _die._ " He muttered. "The masked boy _killed you_ , b-but the attack was meant for _me_ and I-I was so angry I just-"

"Tsuna."

Hibari's hands were on his face, making him turn to him. His vision was blurred – when had he started crying? His expression seemed passive, but Tsuna could tell the softness in it.

"Listen to me…I didn't die that day. Try to remember."

It was hard to, the vision of him, in his arms, whispering how he meant to live but he gave up his life for _him_ was burned behind his eyes.

"Try to remember." Hibari's voice was soft and low, far different from the usual blunt coldness. "Remember me standing up, and waving at you."

He could remember the anger, he could remember the masked boy, who was really a pretty but sad boy, begging him to kill him…

"I lived Tsuna. I lived and you saw me live."

He could see the boy suddenly vanishing, giving up his life for the man who practically raised him. He could remember all the blood – the air was damp with it.

"Tsuna…remember."

"I-I…" He struggled, it was too much and his head felt ready to explode. There was fighting. There was a crowd, but, memory which was starting to blur…he saw him. Standing there. He had waved at him…

Relief and joy burst through his body and he reached out, burying his face in Hibari's chest as tears poured down his face, soaking the boy's shirt.

"Y-You lived…" He muttered, his voice choked in a sob. "You…you _asshole_ why did you _do that_?" He could feel his _past_ come back, fueling his words. "What were you _thinking_?"

"Didn't I tell you? I wasn't thinking. My body just moved on its own." He was rubbing his back, Tsuna could tell the other was shaking his head. "That was so long ago, Tsuna."

"I'm just fully getting everything," He muttered back. "I thought they were _dreams_."

"You're an idiot." He wasn't sure if it was affectionate or not, but Tsuna barely cared. It felt familiar, and that's all that really mattered.

He sniffled and pulled away, face hot as he realized he was practically hugging Hibari for a good minute.

"Better now?"

Tsuna nodded, avoiding his eyes. "Yeah…Hibari?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you…ever reacted like that…to a memory?" He glanced up, Hibari's eyes were cold.

"Once." There was a look in his eyes saying he rather not talk about it, so Tsuna didn't ask. Though…he couldn't help but be curious…

What kind of memory did Hibari see in the past…?


	4. Weakness

Hibari didn't really get headaches or sudden flashbacks. No, he wasn't some herbivore who would quiver at the thought of his past (not that Tsuna was an herbivore…though he was an omnivore at best). And he was past the point where he had accepted it, he was just waiting for it all to flood back. It was far more of an _annoyance_ having to wait and fill the holes of his memories. He'd rather know all he needed to about himself and his sunshine.

But the times the holes were filled, it was just as…disorienting as Tsuna had told him. Some days his face didn't feel exactly right. His eyes were too sharp and his hair too short and flat. Some days his mother felt too distant and her eyes were too cold. Some days the word "father" or "brother" would be on the tip of his tongue, but he had to swallow it. In this life, he had neither of those things, and it was foolish of him to crave the things he couldn't and would never have.

It was a weakness, and he _hated_ even the _idea_ of being weak.

No, he only allowed himself one weakness, and at the moment, that was his sunshine, Tsuna. That meant making sure his friends and that stupid baby wasn't hurting him, that he was quickly ushered away from others when a flashback hit him during school (after the "Incident" Hibari made sure to keep a sharper eye on Tsuna and his random flashbacks, especially when he was in classes where teachers dislike him), he even joined Tsuna on walks home every once in a while. Of course, they were never alone, Tsuna's "friends," the baseball fanatic and the scowling smoker, seemed to always be around him, not to mention that infuriating _baby_. Plus, he hated crowding, but it was only three others and despite the three of them being annoying, he could survive it for Tsuna.

Hibari was walking with Tsuna and his _friends_ again, right next to Tsuna while the smoker was on his other side, flashing him a scowl every few minutes only to his expression to completely do a 180 when Tsuna talked to him. Though Hibari knew it was possibly nothing except awe – _his sunshine had a knack for pulling people in, in the past and now_ – but it still caused an _ugly_ feeling in his chest. The same feeling when he could remember a long-haired girl who had fawned over his sunshine in their _past_.

"Hibari?" Tsuna turned to him, and he focused to him instead of his dwelling thoughts, looking in his eyes. They weren't the same blue he was used to in his memories, but they were definitely a very pretty light brown. He gave him a shy smile, glancing a Gokudera and Yamamoto who were in the midst of their own conversation, before saying in a low voice, "Would you like to come over for a bit? If you're not busy?"

"Yes." He said briefly, knowing Tsuna didn't take offence with the curt answer by the way he smiled so familiarly.

They left Gokudera and Yamamoto behind on the way to Tsuna's house – and Tsuna hesitated slightly as he greeted his mother and the other child house guests (How Tsuna had gotten two children to somehow start living with him was beyond him) before heading upstairs with Hibari. He noted, with the way that he was careful around the house and hesitant, seeming almost confused, he was having a disorienting day.

Tsuna sat on his bed instead of the floor, like he usually does with other guests on a _normal_ day - and Hibari followed, close enough that their thighs were touching. The baby was nowhere in sight, so he didn't hesitate to lean on the smaller male. The warmth felt familiar and Tsuna didn't move, so he figured it was fine.

"Sorry about asking you to come on short notice." Tsuna said, sheepishly. "I was kind of…I don't know. I felt like you were too far from me all the time I guess…" Hibari pretended not to notice the red in his cheeks or how his body heat raised.

"…don't worry about it. I get that feeling sometimes too." He was downplaying it a bit. The _pull_ he felt towards Tsuna was so strong he couldn't ignore it at times. He could see the way Tsuna smiled, and a part of him wished they were laying down so he could hear his heart beat. Perhaps his heart was skipping beats like his was.

"I-I thought I was the only one…" Tsuna laughed sheepishly as he looked away. His hair tickled his nose. It was wild but soft. "So, um…have you gotten any memories lately?"

"Not really. Have you?"

He hummed. "I don't know if it really counts…but there was one, today."

"When was this?" He looked up, alarmed and worried, but he didn't let it show on his face. Tsuna seemed to see, because he patted his leg, chuckling with a familiar tone.

"Done worry about it. It wasn't big. It was pretty funny actually."

"Care to share?" He went back to his comfortable position leaning on Tsuna.

"Well…it was back at the…Academy. No, we had just graduated. I got my headband and I was excited because…I was finally officially a…" He paused, shaking his head, his eyes had a distant look to them. Hibari almost thought his eyes had a blue to it, but that was probably his imagination. "Anyway, I was sitting next to you in the classroom and…she had walked in. She started flirting with you and a whole mass of girls came over wanting to sit by you."

It felt familiar. Hibari closed his eyes, the images came easily. Tsuna's past-self watching the girls fawn over him – none of which he cared for.

"Then…I think I…tried to fight you…then um…we were close and…I was bumped into…" Tsuna trailed off. Despite saying the situation was funny earlier, he seemed embarrassed now, his face was red.

Hibari easily remembered what he was talking about, and pretended like his own body wasn't heating up as well. "…I see."

"Y-Yeah…" He glanced at him, then slightly down his face before looking away, embarrassment obvious on his face. "…let's chance subjects."

"Yeah." He cleared his throat, pulling away from being so close so it wouldn't be so…awkward. Though, he couldn't help but glance in Tsuna's direction, only to find he was doing the same and they both looked away again.

The memory of the… _accidental kiss_ was…perhaps too much, even if the way they reacted back then wasn't…really how Hibari knew he would react now.

It was silent for a moment as they both tried to cool off, before Tsuna spoke up again. "Hibari…have you ever gotten any scary memories?"

"I guess." He answered smoothly. "I'm sure you find a lot scary."

His sunshine pouted. It was adorable. "Don't make fun of me. I was just…wondering." He deflated and turned away. "I guess…I can't imagine you shivering and crying after a memory like…I do." He winced. It was easy to see what he was thinking.

"You're not pathetic." Hibari spoke up, ignore the small yelp the other let out. "Some of the memories are heavy. They're put on you even if you can't handle it yet. It's not surprising."

"…oh." He muttered and looked away. "…thanks, Hibari."

He let out a small grunt of acknowledgement. Tsuna snickered.

"Well that takes me back Mister _hn_."

Hibari let out another grunt again, once again ignoring how his body and face heated up at the laugh Tsuna let out.

"Hiba-"

"Ciaossu."

Hibari narrowed his eyes and scowled as Tsuna let out another yelp. "R-Reborn! How long were you –?"

"If you didn't notice me you need more training Tsuna." Reborn interrupted. Hibari stood. He wouldn't be able to talk to Tsuna properly with the baby here. He was too annoying and they _were_ trying to keep the _past_ a secret. It was hard to do when they were so relaxed around each other.

"…I'll see you later Tsuna." He announced, heading towards the window, already opening it to climb out.

"Ah…alright. I'll see you tomorrow then."

He glanced back and nodded before jumping down, smirking at Tsuna's yelp, followed by a call asking if he was alright. He turned to give him a smirk before heading home.

That night wasn't his night.

Perhaps it was the way his mother coldly regarded him with hateful eyes when he entered the house, maybe it was his ripped curtains or the way beer bottles were left on the floor in slightly different places. But Hibari had found himself having what he didn't usually have. A nightmare.

 _He was trapped in a young body that was his but_ _wasn't_ _his at the same time. There were people around him. Too many people. And they dropped like flies one by one in the red and black world. He sobbed, he was desperate, he wanted it to stop. He wanted him to stop killing. Why was he hurting everyone? Why was he killing_ _everyone_ _he loved?!_

 _A sword raised and two fell. He stared in horror, unable to do anything as tears streamed down his face – betrayal, sorrow and pure anguish hit him all at once._

" _MOTHER! FATHER! BROTHER NO!"_

Hibari's eyes shot open and he sat up, putting a hand over his mouth to stop the scream that was about to rip from his throat. Wetness poured down his face that he couldn't stop. He was shaking, and he could hardly breathe.

He hated that nightmare.

He hated crowding.

He waited for the shaking to die down a bit before he finally climbed out of bed and, with somewhat shaking hands, he slipped some clothes on. He didn't even bother to grab his tonfa as he opened his window and left the house. His sorry excuse of a mother ( _the image of his mother was jumbled between a tall, intimidating woman and a kind, smiling woman, dead on the ground, covered in her own blood… He had to push the thought away, he could feel panic start to rise again_ ) wouldn't notice he was gone for a couple of days. He could sneak away for one, go to his hiding spot and wait until morning for school.

Instead of his usual hiding spot, though, he found himself in front of Tsuna's house.

He stared at the building before he walked through the gate, climbed up to Tsuna's window and opened it. He silently berated Tsuna for not leaving it locked, and checked to see if the baby was there. He wasn't. Odd. He was sure out of the corner of his eye…

No matter, he was only focused on Tsuna at the moment.

He silently walked over and shook the boy awake. He was as deep a sleeper in his past, but it didn't take long until he was roused from his slumber.

"Hm…Hibari? Is this a dream again…?" He muttered in surprise before glancing at his clothes – a regular t shirt and sweatpants. "…weird. You're not wearing your school uniform like usual though…"

"Because this isn't a dream, idiot." He tried to keep his voice level, though it was hard as panic was still in his chest and stomach. "…can I stay here for the night?" He whispered.

Tsuna rubbed his eyes, staring at him for a moment, before he suddenly seemed worried and scooted over. "…yeah. It's not a lot of room but…"

Hibari had climbed in anyway, instantly calming as soon as he was near the familiar heat. They shared a pillow, and in the moonlight Tsuna's eyes were so pretty.

"…if you need anything, you can always come to me, you know." Tsuna whispered before closing his eyes, soon asleep.

Hibari let out another grunt, closing his eyes as well and moving a bit closer, feeling calmer just by being in the presence of the other male.

He had a dream of sunshine and a warm smile.

O~O~O

Reborn hummed to himself as he watched the two from his hiding spot in the shadows, both surprised and intrigued by this…relationship they had.

Perhaps he should try to confront Tsuna soon about this…it was _progressing_ more than he thought.


	5. Confrontation Part 1

The morning was a perfect time for a workout - the brisk air, and the quiet atmosphere gave Ryohei a sense of peace. Adding the exertion of working his muscles and getting the energy for the rest of the day (when he would eventually end up working out more) it just felt perfect.

"Hey there, are you Sasagawa Ryohei?"

He paused and looked up, not used to any sudden interruption of his workouts. He didn't recognize the male on standing on the street, but he did notice that he wore a uniform from Kokuyou Jr. High.

"What do you want?" He asked, only for it to connect in his mind, and he smiled wide. "Oh, I know! You're transferring here from another school just to join my boxing club! Well, you're a rash kid!" He let out a laugh. It was always nice to have anyone around that intended to join his club, so he didn't mind the idea of anyone from another school joining.

"Hm? Well…I guess that works." The kid smirked. "If you can beat me, I'll join your club."

Ryohei wasn't one to back down from a challenge, especially when it involved a member joining his club.

He happily agreed.

O~O~O

Tsuna thought Reborn wouldn't look into the… _relationship_ between him and Hibari very closely. There wasn't _much_ to look into at the moment after all. At most, he might be curious to why they're so… _close_ only after just seemingly meeting each other. But all Reborn knows is that Hibari sometimes comes to his house every once in a while, and they talk…while no one is around.

That's not suspicious, right?

It's not like they're talking about anything _bad_. They're just sort of…catching up? Figuring out what each other know of the disjointed memories? It was…hard to say when some of the time they're leaning on each other on the floor or on his bed. And the way they both got tongue tied and it was silent but it was a _nice_ silence…

It couldn't be _that_ suspicious…

There was also the fact that on nights when Hibari would sneak into his room and sleep in his bed, then disappear in the morning before his mother would come in to attempt to wake him up, Reborn seemed to…disappear for that night. It was odd, but he probably shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Besides, there was more to worry about, like the fact that there were some mysterious attacks against the disciplinary committee, and with each attack Hibari (and the rest of the school) got tenser and Tsuna's mother got more worried. Just that morning, she pushed fliers of different defense-related clubs to him, fussing that he should learn how to defend himself soon in case these attacks got "too far."

Tsuna groaned aloud and was about to stuff the fliers into a street trash can when Reborn hit him.

"Ow! Reborn!"

"You should think about joining one of them, Tsuna. You're getting nowhere with your training right now."

 _Maybe because you threaten me with a gun too much._ Tsuna felt like huffing back, but knew better than to argue against the hitman at this point. "I don't really need it at the moment…besides she's just worried I'm going to be attacked soon…" He sighed, guilt suddenly clutched his chest. His mother was just worried about him…and he really shouldn't be so hard on her. _He didn't exactly have a mother to worry about him before this one, after all._

"And you're distracted all the time." Reborn suddenly said, his tone, though joking sounded pretty serious.

"…Distracted? What do you mean…?" Tsuna asked, though already had an idea of what he was trying to say.

"Hibari, the boy you've taken a liking to."

"W-What?!" He practically yelled, and slapped a hand over his mouth as other students also walking to school looked over. "W-What the hell are you talking about, Reborn?" He asked, quieter this time so he _didn't_ seem so strange, talking to a _baby_ like this. "Hibari is just my friend…"

"I never said he _wasn't_."

Tsuna could practically feel the amusement pouring out from the other, and Tsuna wanted to crawl under a rock and die of embarrassment. Why did Reborn have to be like this? He could feel his face heating up and he wasn't exactly happy that he was caught in a corner like this.

"Why don't you share then, Tsuna? What are your feelings for him?"

"Friendship!" It was an almost instinctual answer, like it wasn't from _his_ lips but from his thoughts of _then._ But…Hibari _was_ a friend. The word _friend_ just had a familiar ring, when describing their relationship. It was almost like a security blanket. It was easy, though complicated at the same time. Hibari was safe and warm and Tsuna…felt a pull to him. Obviously, that was _platonic,_ right?

Reborn, though, narrowed his eyes at him. "So, letting someone sneak into your room every other night and sleep in your bed is 'friendship?'"

"W-Well, I mean…it could be…I—" Tsuna felt heat rise to his cheeks as he tried to explain himself, only to let out a strangled sound of horror. "Wait a second, you _saw_?!"

Reborn rolled his eyes. "Of course, I did. Hibari leaves the window open sometimes and I sleep in the same room, Tsuna. I noticed the first night."

"…why didn't you say anything?" He was almost afraid to know why.

"He's not hurting you and he will be a part of your Family, so it's good to get close to him. You should try getting closer to the others, you focus on Hibari too much." There was a somewhat _stern_ tone as he said this

"R-Right…" He almost forgot that Reborn saw his friends as some kind of… _subordinates_ to him. It felt weird and wrong to think of them as _less_ than him or anything along those lines. They were his friends, his equals (at worst, Tsuna thought of them as better than him – he could hardly match up to himself from the past, how would he be able to match up to his friends now?).

Still…there was now the feelings he had that was with Hibari. Perhaps there was something…more than just platonic, or someone he had…feelings for in their past life. (Not that he'd ever tell Hibari of his feelings in their past) But, there was also Hibari. Hibari probably saw him as some connection, since they were close and knew each other well. But if they hadn't known each other _long ago_ Hibari wouldn't have given him the time of day…

He sighed and shook his head. No, Hibari was just nice, trusted him, and liked being his friend. That was all.

He continued on his way to school, suddenly noticing that as they got closer to the main gate, more of those in the disciplinary committee were standing around in clusters outside the school. Brown eyes almost immediately began to scan the small clusters of the committee for their leader.

"Are these attacks really getting that serious?" Tsuna asked aloud in surprise, his shoulders slumping as he realized he didn't see Hibari. Next to him, Reborn hummed.

"There's so many cases, they must be getting jittery too."

Tsuna frowned. "No wonder Hibari is so stressed out…"

"Exactly." A familiar voice said next to him, and he jumped in surprise, turning to find Hibari had snuck up on him. His lips went up in a slight smirk, though Tsuna could tell he was tense and there was stress in his features.

"Morning Hibari…I see it's getting bad."

"It's been bad." He replied curtly. "We've lost quite a few members to these attacks, and the school wants us to do something before regular students are attacked too."

"Why don't the adults try helping out for once?" Tsuna grumbled, suddenly filled with annoyance at the realization that the faculty were just pushing the responsibility on Hibari.

Hibari let out a small grunt of what Tsuna could tell was him trying to hide a chuckle. He began to put up a hand, probably to initiate some sort of contact with Tsuna, but his eyes darted to Reborn and he put it down, deciding against it. The shorter male felt sudden disappointment in his chest, but understood. Instead he listened as Hibari began to explain, "The faculty think this is some gang or group of rowdy students attacking us, and they know I won't allow this to go on any longer." His eyes narrowed, glaring in the distance at an enemy not yet directly in front of him. "I will just have to cut this down myself." He glanced at Tsuna. "…I can't allow…the other students to get hurt."

Tsuna felt another blush rise to his cheeks. He could easily read the double meaning, _"I will not let you get hurt."_ He trusted Hibari, though he couldn't help but feel worried for him. Hibari is strong, the strongest he knows…but he still felt like something was going to _happen_ and he couldn't put his finger on what.

A sudden, soft tone of the school anthem went off, and Tsuna was confused for a moment until Hibari suddenly took out his phone and looked at the number, answering the call. Tsuna wanted to laugh – he was such a dork, of course he would have the _school anthem_ of all things as his ringtone – before he suddenly noticed the tense air around the other male.

"Hibari? What happened?"

"…you're acquainted with Sasagawa Ryohei, right?" He asked, and Tsuna swallowed, his heart racing as he immediately knew where Hibari was going with this.

"Was he…?"

He nodded. "…he was attacked this morning." He closed his phone, glaring into the distance again. "He's in the hospital."

"I have to go see him!" He immediately exclaimed, turning down the road, Reborn hopped on his shoulder. He paused, and turned back to Hibari. "…I'll talk to you later."

Once he caught a glimpse of Hibari's nod and he ran off towards the hospital.

O~O~O

Tsuna's form disappeared down the street, and Hibari was immediately annoyed at all of this. At first, he thought these attacks were just against his committee, and they would have far more time to control this before it got to the students, but it seems he was wrong. A student had been attacked, and now that means _Tsuna_ was in far more danger of being attacked as well.

He couldn't protect Tsuna at all times while this is happening either, and the thought of him getting cornered and beaten into the hospital made his blood boil.

He'd have to get down to the source of this, before anyone else in this school or worse, Tsuna, gets hurt.


	6. Confrontation Part 2

"Big Brother! Are you alright?!" Tsuna yelled as he opened the door, a silent familiar voice from the _past_ whispered, _"Quiet, you're in a hospital."_ He ignored it, in favor of paying attention to Ryohei, who looked worse for wear. He had bandages nearly all over the place, around his head, his arm seemed broken and there were bandages peaking up under his shirt.

"Ah, Sawada, you're quick." He turned to him in surprise, Tsuna wondered if his sister, Kyoko even knew that he was here. It didn't seem like he had a visitor besides him yet. It made sense…Hibari told him first after all.

"How are your injuries?" Reborn asked, standing with Tsuna at the edge of the bed.

"Six bones broken, seven cracked," he announced, as if he was proud of the injuries he was given. Tsuna was suddenly reminded of a man in green spandex and bowl cut hair with thick eyebrows, but he wasn't exactly sure why. Ryohei always reminded him of that person whenever he was around him. He didn't really get any specific memories…and sometimes, seeing how Ryohei acted he had a feeling of why.

Ryohei took off the mask he was given and opened his mouth. "Look, I even lost five of my teeth." He laughed. "Though, I've broken _more_ bones and teeth during training!"

 _That's not exactly something to laugh at…_ Tsuna thought, feeling tired suddenly. The memory of the bowl cut hair was getting stronger, and it was actually beginning to give him a small headache.

"But…" Ryohei went on, now frowning. "The guy that came looking for a fight seems careless but he was pretty strong…"

"Wait, you _saw_ the attacker?"

"Yep! He even knew my name! He wore the Kokuyou Jr. High uniform from the next town."

"So, he's a Jr. High student?" _One_ kid from Jr. High was hospitalizing all the members of disciplinary committee? If felt off, but he was obviously being precise with these attacks if he knows the _name_ of who he's going after.

"Sawada, you should be careful too." Ryohei suddenly warned him, and he tensed in his seat, anxiety began swirling in his stomach.'

"Y-You think so? I'm not…really a part of this…" But with his current standing as "future mafia boss" (which he figured he would have to accept sooner or later, Reborn was too stubborn about it and he was getting tired of arguing) anything was possible.

"But…damn…I really want that kind of punch in my club!" He exclaimed, seeming as passionate as ever, even though the person he happened to be talking about put him in the hospital.

Tsuna groaned and shook his head. So _that's_ what's really on his mind…. Does he think of anything besides boxing?

"Anyway, to change the subject…" He cleared his throat, and gave Tsuna a serious glare that made him immediately tense in his seat. "…please don't tell Kyoko the truth about this. She'll worry for sure."

Tsuna frowned but nodded. Maybe it wasn't _really_ his place to say anything…but still, Kyoko would figure it out at some point that Ryohei had been attacked, right?

…turns out she didn't. In fact, she seemed to completely believe the lie she was told that Ryohei had climbed the chimney of a bathhouse. Or, at least, she knew not to argue too much. Ryohei _was_ pretty stubborn about the whole "sprain" that he was bandaged for.

Tsuna had left them to their moment, only to find that outside the room there were plenty other Namimori students that had been hospitalized. It seemed whoever it was, was purposefully attacking the students of Namimori.

 _This is so weird…what's going on?_ Tsuna frowned and yelped as he was forced to bow as the vice president of the disciplinary committee, Kusakabe walked by. (Thinking about it, Tsuna has spent so much time with Hibari he was surprised he hasn't met any of the others in the committee, even by accident)

"So, nobody's seen any sign of the head?"

Tsuna tensed, realizing they were talking about Hibari. He immediately listened in a little sharper.

"Yeah, like always, he's probably gone after the trail of the enemy…so really, it's only a matter of time before the culprits are totally annihilated."

"I see…"

Once they were gone, Tsuna stood up straight, ignoring as those next to him were cheering. He didn't really like the fact that Hibari went off alone, but realistically he knew he wasn't at the strength he was at the same age at his past life. He wouldn't be able to help, in fact he'd probably get in the way…

 _Hibari please be alright…_

O~O~O

The trail was pretty easy to find, even if it take a little while.

Hibari found it much faster than other _herbivores_ he normally fights who disrupt his school life, but he just happened to be in far more of a…rush. This annoyance had gone on for too long and it was time to end it.

He walked down the hallways of the hideout with a glare, holding his tonfa as countless students lay unconscious in his wake. The rush of hurting and spilling blood was probably getting to his head a little, as he was sure the bloodthirst was pouring out of him. He was pretty sure all the students he had "fought" were all alive; he wasn't using a katana or any other blade after all, and he _did_ have the control to not kill anyone with blunt force.

As he turned down another hallway, he could feel the presence of someone by the doorway. He could feel their fear.

So, he wasn't surprised when a student taller than him came out of the shadows, holding an axe and letting out a battle cry.

He didn't have time for this.

The student took a swing and he ducked, before hitting his chest with his tonfa, sending him back through a door and a dark room. He lay unconscious in the new room, where there was a couch and a lone student sitting there, in the shadows. The scene switched in his mind, a man like a snake sat in a strange room, obviously waiting for him. He blinked and he was back in the room, the other male was saying something.

"You've finally come."

Hibari narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward. "You're the ring leader?" He asked for confirmation. He would hate if he learned later that this person was covering for a leader.

The shadowed student let out a laugh. " _Fufufu_ …something like that." Hibari felt a slight shiver up his spine. He blinked and saw the snake man. He blinked again and was back in the dark room. "Next, we'll bring order to your town."

"Namimori does not need two orders." Hibari took another step forward.

"I agree, wholeheartedly." He was too relaxed for Hibari's taste. "Since _I'm_ taking over, we don't need you."

"That will not happen." He immediately said back, touching a button on his tonfa that made spikes come from it. He didn't normally use them, but this person was obviously strong. They reminded him highly of someone from the _past_ so obviously, he'll need to take this seriously. "Right here and now…I'll bite you to death."

He took a few more calm, but cautious steps forward. The student stayed in his seat, he didn't even take out a weapon, from Hibari could tell.

"Ku _fufufu…_ what interesting things you say." The student laughed once again, he was so cocky Hibari almost wished he had his old katana instead so he could have the satisfaction of seeing it go through his chest. "I am sitting down because there is no need for me to stand."

He narrowed his eyes. "No more talk." If he talked any more, he would find himself more aggravated, and that would distract him from the satisfaction of seeing the other beaten.

"Suite yourself…it's just that if you don't talk now, you may never get the chance to talk again."

Something felt…off. This felt familiar yet not at the same time, like he was looking through murky water and his mind and senses felt _muffled._ It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't exactly figure out why he _knows_ this feeling.

"You're breaking into a sweat, now? What could possibly be wrong, hm?"

He was teasing him, he obviously saw this as more of a game than Hibari did, and it _annoyed_ him.

"Shut up."

"I was just worried about you, that's all." He said, in such a condescending tone Hibari made it his personal mission to see him begging for mercy. "Come on now, pull yourself together…"

He blinked, and he found he was…facing the wall? The male had somehow made him think he was talking to him but, he was actually facing the wall the whole time…?

"Hello, I'm over here."

He glanced over at him. Frowning as this felt so…familiar. He faced this before. He was sure he did. He's faced this in his past and in his nightmares.

"I had to import them from overseas… _Kufufufu_ you really are weak to them, aren't you?" The student laughed at him again, there was enough light that he could see him press a button.

Hibari blinked, and suddenly found that Sakura trees had surrounded the room that was dark just a moment before. He immediately felt energy sapped from his system – god it was ironic, wasn't it? Having a weakness to Sakura blossoms? In the back of his mind, he could see a girl with green eyes and pink hair glaring at him. Thinking back on the memories he has (so far) of what he's done to her, she probably would have thought he deserved this.

The other male stood, coming out into the light, and revealing a male a few inches taller than him, with his short hair put up in a ponytail. One eye was strange, a red that clashed against the blue of the other. He smirked, and the feeling of dread settled in Hibari's gut.

"Let's begin, shall we?"

He was fast, Hibari hated to admit, and he was strong too. In fact, strong enough that Hibari found himself down and bleeding within a few minutes, though the other barely had a scratch on him. He suddenly wished he had the abilities in his past life, or at the very least, a body that didn't have a weakness to Sakura blossoms.

He was kicked down again, the glass on the floor hurt but it was the same pain as the glass of a beer bottle against his skin, so it was minimal. His hair was grabbed, and the infuriating male forced him to look at him. He was smirking. Hibari wanted to punch him but couldn't find the energy to anymore. He hated the fact that somehow, he _knew_ about his weakness to sakura blossoms but _how_?

"Your face is saying, 'how did he know about my weakness to Sakura?'" He dropped him, and he caught himself by his arms, turning to glare. "I wonder why, hm?"

 _Reading my thoughts now, or are you just cocky?_ Hibari wondered as he braced himself to be hurt again.

"Maybe you're thinking, if there were no Sakura blossoms, you'd be fine?" He stood, standing in front of him as if he obviously saw himself as somehow _superior_ to him. He didn't think his sudden wave of hate for him could get any deeper. "If so, you are dead wrong." He didn't seem to notice, or care, how angry Hibari was at him. "I have seen many equal to your level in skill, and every time…I've buried them. In a place, much like hell."

 _I'll send you there in a minute if you don't shut up._ Hibari didn't bother to humor him with words, but by the sneer he gave him, he had an idea of what he was thinking.

"Let's continue, shall we?"

O~O~O

Tsuna sat up straight, sitting in the lobby of the hospital, having a familiar feeling of _dread_ deep in his gut. His mind swirled with only one sentence – _Hibari's in danger_.

Leon's tail fell, and Reborn hummed. "Leon's tail broke off…it's an unlucky sign."

Tsuna frowned, worry and anxiety filled his chest and stomach. There was no doubt in his mind that Hibari was hurt somewhere.

As Leon's shape began to change rapidly, another student was rushed in who he recognized as Kusakabe. The feeling of dread got worse. Hibari was definitely hurt, he could feel it.

He held Leon (who turned into a rice cooker) as Reborn checked the disciplinary committee vice president.

"Hm…there's no doubt about it."

"What?"

"The cause of all this fighting is you, Tsuna."

"I…me?" _Hibari and everyone else is hurt because of me_. Was what his mind immediately turned to, even though another part of him felt like it made no sense. "How did _I_ start it?"

Reborn sighed and began to slowly explain – how each person lost their teeth and it goes along with their ranking in Fuuta's strength readings, and now, they were after the third.

"Things are getting worse…" Reborn commented with a hum.

"Wait…if the third is next…" Tsuna's eyes widened and he pocketed Fuuta's strength list Reborn had handed to him, saving it for later. "Reborn, where's Gokudera?!"

* * *

 **It was brought to my attention some time ago that in the Daily Life Arc of the original KHR series, Hibari gets his disease from Doctor Shamal. In this universe, this disease is going to be real. I'm sorry to anyone who was confused!**


	7. The Attack Part 1

Gokudera really didn't care about school. At best, it was boring and the only reason he was attending was because one, he's a minor, and he _has_ to. And secondly, Tenth goes here.

And Tenth was…something else. At first, he didn't expect very much when he heard some kid his age was going to become the Vongola boss. When he actually _saw_ what he was like, he thought he was pathetic at first. The kid seemed afraid of his own shadow! But then he risked his life to save him and…he began to look up to him. Highly.

It wouldn't be _that_ bad if this feeling would just stay in the category of "awe and respect." But lately the feeling has gone closer to the "infatuation and _crush_ " zone, which he thought he would be able to ignore but…Tenth _is_ Tenth. He doesn't even seem to _realize_ how…nice and attractive and…

Ugh.

Gokudera knew he had it bad.

Worst was, he was pretty sure that asshole _Hibari_ knew too. Or at least, he was suspicious of him. Gokudera knew it was possibly his own fault. Whenever he saw Hibari and Tenth together he just got this _terrible_ feeling in his chest, like a green monster from hell had possessed his body. Whenever Hibari was around Tenth's attention was usually 70% of the time directed towards him or they just…hovered around each other. And Gokudera _knew_ that outside of school, Hibari was definitely the one Tenth spent the most time with.

He hated it and he _hated_ that he wasn't able to feel happy for Tenth. Instead he just felt frustrated and angry at Hibari every time he saw the way he made Tenth smile. It's not like he was going to _do_ anything about it (he had to admit after their first meeting, a part of him was weary about confronting Hibari head on) but watching from afar was _torture._

Either way, it seemed today Tenth wasn't in school, and quite a few others were absent too, but Gokudera honestly had no clue _why_. He didn't really pay attention to news around the school (maybe he should start, since Tenth was seemingly affected by this too) and he couldn't even turn around and ask Yamamoto. He was out of it and seemed ready to fall asleep any minute now. Ugh, he must have been up late practicing or something, and Gokudera's _told him_ so many times he should just _rest_ but despite his smiles, the kid was stubborn.

Why was he friends with him?

Oh right, Tenth is friends with him too.

With an annoyed scowl, he realized that he had been so lost in thought he had been staring at the blank screen of his phone for about a minute. He pressed the home button but it flashed a low battery sign at him. He pocketed his phone with a scowl. Tenth wasn't here, the class was boring and Yamamoto was asleep. There was really no reason to stay any longer.

He stood up, capturing the attention of most of the class, even Yamamoto who blinked sleepily.

"My cell ran out of battery. I'm out." He stuffed his hands into his pockets, ignoring the teacher's calls for him to come back. He gave Yamamoto a look before he left the classroom, silently hoping the sleepy boy would follow and at least help relieve his boredom.

O~O~O

Tsuna's mind was racing, his heart pounding in his chest as he ran out of the hospital and out on the sidewalk. _This is bad! This is bad! Hibari is-! Gokudera will-!_ He stopped at a corner, panting slightly. His mind was racing and he was completely torn.

Find Hibari? Or find Gokudera?

God, he really wanted to just go find Hibari, just to make sure he knows he's not _too hurt_ and that he'll be _fine_. Memories from the _past_ screamed at him, thoughts that were his from long ago.

" _Find him!"_

" _Protect him!"_

" _They're gonna hurt him!"_

" _They're gonna kill him!"_

" _Find him! I need to find him!"_

" _I can't let him be alone!"_

He put his hands over his head, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. His vision was blurring. One minute he felt taller, looking at his sandals and looking down at snow, and another he was looking back at the sidewalk.

He needed to think about this. He needed to calm down, and actually _rationalize._ (Though it was hard to when past memories were telling him to run to Hibari).

He had to remember. He had to remember and realize that Hibari is the strongest person he knows. His gut feeling isn't telling him he's exactly _alright_ but it's not telling him he's _dead_. And Tsuna _knows_ Hibari. He knows what he's like. He wouldn't die easily from something like this.

But Gokudera…he's the one who's _really_ in the most danger here. He doesn't know what's going on, that he's the next target. He could be alone, unaware that someone was watching him, about to attack him…

The thought of Gokudera laying on the ground, bones broken and bloody and _he would have been the reason_ made a new wave of panic and energy flow through him. He wasn't going to let his friend get hurt.

With new resolve, he turned and ran towards the school.

O~O~O

The town was pretty boring (and, honestly, lonely) during school hours. Usually after school Gokudera would be here with Yamamoto or both him and Tenth so they could all hang out for a while. He was a bit disappointed to find the baseball fanatic hadn't followed behind him when he left school – ugh what a goodie two shoes.

Or he was sleeping still.

…meh. If he was, he'll let him sleep.

Besides, this was better than sitting in a classroom all day, especially when his phone was dead.

His stomach growled and he sighed. He had skipped breakfast this morning, a habit he knew he should break, especially since Yamamoto found out and actually _lectured_ him for a good half an hour. What a jerk. Worrying about him.

Moving on from the amused (and strangely, fond) thoughts towards his friend, he dug into his pockets to see if he was at least carrying money. He had forgotten his wallet at home but he always kept some change in his pockets and bag.

As soon as he had scooped up all his change, he counted it and groaned.

"Only 65 yen…?" What the hell could he buy with that? It was barely good enough for some gum…

"Namimori Junior High, Class 2-A, Seat Number 8…Gokudera Hayato." Someone said from behind him.

"Hm?" He turned, raising an eyebrow. Who the hell would know everything about him _including_ his seat number? It set a feeling of unease through him quickly, A male stood wearing a school uniform he didn't recognize, with a beanie and glasses, shone over so it hid his eyes.

"Let's get this over quickly. I don't like to…sweat."

Gokudera narrowed his eyes, pocketing the change. He didn't know what was going on…but he could already feel the sparks of a battle that was about to start.

Well, he asked for a relief from his boredom, didn't he? This should do.

O~O~O

"Sensei!" Tsuna opened the classroom door, panting and looking around the almost vacant classroom. His eyes narrowed on Gokudera's seat, which was empty.

"Ah, Sawada! Finally, you _grace_ us with your presence—"

"Where's Gokudera?" He interrupted, easily ignoring the scowl his sensei gave him.

" _Gokudera Hayato_ left early. You pretty much just missed him. Now come inside and-hey!"

Tsuna turned and ran back down the hallway, ignoring the shouts from his teacher to get back to class. He didn't care if he got a detention for his rudeness, if Gokudera had left early he had an idea of where he would be…

He hoped he would get there in time…


	8. The Attack Part 2

"So, what'd'ya want?" Gokudera asked somewhat cautiously, sizing up this opponent.

"Kokuyou High, 2nd year, Kakimoto Chikusa." His opponent introduced himself formally. "I came here to break you."

 _Break me, huh?_ He wasn't very impressed, though he dug into his bag for his dynamite anyway. "Well alright…since you asked…I never back down from a fight when invited."

"Hey, look!"

Gokudera scowled as some nosy adults walked over, snickering to each other about a fight between junior high students. He opened his mouth, about to suggest that they change locations for their battle. There were a lot of civilians around as well as buildings, and he wasn't in the mood to attract any police. Though before he could get a word out Kakimoto suddenly glanced in the direction of the adults, narrowing his eyes.

"This is not a show."

Gokudera blinked, or at least it was fast enough he felt like he _must have_ blinked to have missed it. In a second the two nosy adults had needles in their heads and fell in a bloody mess on the ground.

"W-Wha…?" His jaw dropped as he stared at the now dead adults. "W-What the fuck?! What the hell did you do that for?!" He turned to Kakimoto, between shock and anger. "That wasn't necessary!"

"Let's hurry…this is troublesome." The other ignored his statement, making him even angrier.

He let out a noise of annoyance before turning and running.

It was time to use his usual "throw explosions" strategy.

O~O~O

"Dammit, Gokudera!" Tsuna paced the street as his phone kept sending him to voicemail. He had already tried calling three times and no luck. He wasn't in his usual hang out places either. "Alright, Tsuna, you can figure this out…he has _silver hair_ and carries _dynamite,_ he's not that hard to find!" Still, he could feel dread and hopelessness start to settle in his chest. What if he _really_ didn't find him in time? What if he's just going around in circles-

No, no he couldn't think like that. For _once_ he couldn't give up, especially for someone who was getting into all this trouble because of him…

"Hey, it's a Nami High student." He perked up suddenly as he heard girls whispering to each other, obviously in his direction. On habit, he immediately ducked his head, used to being talked about while in hearing vicinity.

"Don't look!" The other girl elbowed her friend with urgency. "We don't want to get close!"

"Oh right, we don't want to get caught in anything _strange,_ right?"

Tsuna felt his skin crawl at the way the girls were talking about him. It was no wonder Namimori students had a stigma around them now, considering all these attacks…

"Besides, remember what happened at the shopping street earlier?"

"What, that fight between a Nami student and a Kokuyou student? _Please_ , it was probably just…" They got too far for Tsuna to clearly hear any more, but he got a knowing feeling.

… _so that's where you were._ He sighed to himself, before heading towards where the girls described

O~O~O

It didn't take long for Gokudera to realize that he wasn't facing against a normal student, but instead a professional hitman.

That made things far harder.

He spent a majority of his time dodging instead of attacking, it was almost useless to attack when this guy was fast enough to avoid everything he would throw. The whole time, he tried to figure out what _Family_ Kokuyou Jr. High is a part of. That would definitely help ring some bells…

Frustrated, and getting to a point of calm, he finally asked aloud, "I've probably gone senile for a minute…but which Family is Kokuyou Jr. High again?"

There seemed to be slight relief on his face as he merely answered, "…finally. We got the right one."

"Huh?"

"Who are the members of your family, and who's your boss?" He suddenly demanded, attacking again with his yoyo, which Gokudera once again dodged.

"You're after Tenth?!" Gokudera practically growled. He _knew_ Tenth wasn't in any position or at any strength to fight professional hitmen just yet. If he's after him…then he'd stop him, here and now.

He wouldn't know what hit him.

O~O~O

"Ah! That was the sound of explosions!" A few months ago, Tsuna didn't _ever_ think he would feel _relieved_ to hear explosions nearby, or find himself running _towards_ the noise. But here he was, heading towards it, being careful in case they were in the middle of the fight…

But they weren't. In fact, Gokudera sat on the ground taking a drag from a cigarette, muttering about how dangerous something was.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna called to him, relief and surprise obvious in his voice as he jogged over.

"Tenth! Why are you here?!"

"Oh, uh...well it's a bit of a long story but Reborn found out who they were targeting and I was trying to find you and warn you…" He admitted, suddenly sheepish. _It seems Gokudera didn't need my help after all…_

"Y-You came because you were worried about me?" Gokudera had a strange, goofy smile that Tsuna thought of as normal. The other boy made that face around him quite a bit. "Sorry for the trouble!" He stood up, though still had that goofy smile. "I just took care of the guy!"

"That's a relief…"

"He's down somewhere over there…" Gokudera began to gloat, though the goofy smile was wiped from his face as he realized Kakimoto's body wasn't among the smoke and ashes. "Wait! He's not there!"

"You saved me a lot of time."

They looked up, to see Kakimoto coming towards them, his uniform ripped and charred and he was covered in his own blood.

Tsuna took a step back, worried about leaving Gokudera by himself but at the same time…he couldn't fight. He had nothing but underlying instincts from his _past_ and he was hazy at best with that.

"Please be careful!" Out of the corner of his eye, Gokudera took out more of his dynamite. "His weapons are yo-yos!"

Tsuna nodded, taking another step back. At best, he should probably find an escape and figure out how to help Gokudera from afar…

Kakimoto suddenly attacked before he could make up his mind. He let out a yelp of surprise and fear, his muscles locked up. The attack was far too fast for him to even hope dodge. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for pain…but it never came. Instead, a thick _familiar_ smell of blood permeated the air.

He opened his eyes slowly, and saw silver hair.

"G-Gokudera…?"

"Tenth…" He turned to him slowly. "Please…escape."

He collapsed in a pool of his own blood, and Tsuna felt horror skyrocket, his chest tightened, he could hardly breathe. This…this was like…

 _A girl was fighting with full intensity, her long hair flowing behind her as she attacked a man taller than her, and obviously much stronger…She was fighting him with all she had. She was_ _fighting_ _and she was_ _losing_ _…_

 _And he couldn't do anything about it…_

"G-Gokudera…"

 _He was merciless as he beat her down. Her attacks were practically futile but they were for_ _him_ _. She was doing it because she wanted to fight_ _for him_ _…_

Gokudera was motionless on the ground, Tsuna's legs felt weak as he kneeled down, afraid to touch him as his mind was blurring between reality and memory.

 _He had her down. He had her down and he looked at him._

 _He looked at him square in the eyes as he stabbed her right through her chest._

He could barely breathe, he clutched his chest as tears began to flow. She was dead. No, _Gokudera_ was dying. _She_ died to protect him. But…Gokudera was about to die too.

He couldn't calm down. He couldn't stop shaking. He wished Hibari was here to calm him but he _wasn't_ and the Kokuyou student was the only one there. His eyes were cold and it wasn't _helping_.

"What a pitiful boss…I should finish this quickly." He spoke but Tsuna barely heard him. Every time he blinked he was in a chasm and there was _pain_ and the person in front of him was trying to capture and kill him and he had just killed his friends and…

Then he would blink again and he would be back here, Gokudera bleeding out in front of him and he, himself, was about to die too.

He braced himself for what was about to come. His body was acting as if he was in pain. When he looked down at his hands he was surprised when they weren't bloody with sharp poles stuck in them.

Someone suddenly grabbed him without warning, sliding away from the attack and he flinched violently, moving away quickly. His body and mind screamed it was another enemy, but Yamamoto's smiling and concerned expression met his eyes.

"Hey, we got a half day at school and I heard about this fight so I thought it might be Gokudera…" He frowned at him. "Are you alright?"

He opened his mouth to say yes but looking at himself – shaking, crying, in the middle of a panic attack and his mind switching between the reality and memory, he found himself shaking his head no.

"It's fine, I'll get you out of here." He promised softly, before turning to where Gokudera lay bleeding and unconscious. His eyes narrowed, and it was almost like a flip had switched as his normally gentle and cheerful expression became serious, almost deadly.

In the back of his mind, Tsuna registered how serious this really was for a moment as he tried to breathe and control his heartbeat, or at least try to tell his body he wasn't exactly in any pain and his friend hadn't exactly _died_ in front of him, just hurt.

"You're in my way." Kakimoto said calmly, attacking with his yo-yos again.

But Yamamoto, to Tsuna's surprise, was prepared.

He went into the sleeve at his back and unsheathed a katana, easily cutting the string of the yo-yo as it came at him. He glared down Kakimoto the whole time.

Tsuna was beginning to calm down slowly, though he was still shaking a bit and he felt drained, not to mention disoriented.

"I see…Namimori Jr. High 2-A, Seat number 15. You're Yamamoto Takeshi…"

 _Oh right, Yamamoto is Number 2 on the list…_ Tsuna suddenly remembered, the list suddenly felt heavy in his pocket.

"So, what if I am?" Yamamoto pressed, holding his katana at the ready.

There was a tense moment of silence, there were nearby yells from adults about the police and Tsuna was worried they would end up getting arrested (he was pretty sure owning a katana would be considered illegal, and Gokudera had dynamite he obviously owned next to him). But Kakimoto just turned away.

"…you're Ken's prey. It'll be trouble if I intervened."

And like that, he turned and disappeared down an alleyway.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yamamoto dropped his katana and went to Gokudera's side, his expression screamed worry. "Gokudera-kun! Are you alright?"

"U-Um…do you know how to check a pulse?" Tsuna asked, shuffling over. It was odd, why did he feel like he was somehow intruding on them?

He nodded, slowly moving two fingers around Gokudera's neck and sighing in relief. "He's…still alive. But we should get him help quickly."

"But carrying him to the hospital will take too long, it's too far! And-" He paused and nearly groaned aloud.

"What?"

"…I know someone we can go to." He winced. "But I don't like him."

Yamamoto gave him a knowing look, carefully picking Gokudera up bridal style like it was nothing. "He wouldn't let me do this if he was awake…" He muttered, laughing softly before turning to Tsuna. "Lead the way."

Luckily, the perverted doctor (which is what Tsuna "affectionately" calls him in his head), Doctor Shamal, was free, and he had plenty of space to effectively hide Gokudera. It had taken a bit of pleading, though, and the promise that Gokudera's sister Bianchi would be there the whole time to get him to treat their friend.

Tsuna _really_ disliked the Doctor.

At least it seemed to be the right thing to do, taking Gokudera to him instead of the hospital. Reborn seemed happy enough with the decision (and staying out of his bad side was a good thing for Tsuna) and watching his friend finally get treated was enough to calm Tsuna down some more, though he was still heavily disoriented.

So, when Bianchi came, he slipped out of the room.

He sighed as he sat on the floor outside the room, guilt eating at him, and every time he blinked he was at a hospital but a _different_ one.

"What's wrong with me?" He grumbled. "I should have at least tried to move…then Gokudera would be ok…" He blamed himself, even though realistically he knew there was no way he could have helped. "Gokudera's hurt…Hibari's nowhere to be found… _ugh_." He shook his head, having to blink a few times as his vision shifted again.

A noise came from above him, stopping him from beating himself up. He looked up and nearly screeched, as Reborn was sitting on what seemed to be a strange green cocoon-like creature, stuck to the ceiling.

"R-Reborn!"

"Ciaossu."

"What the hell is that?!"

"Leon's finally settled down and entered a cocoon state." He said matter-of-factly, jumping down to meet Tsuna on the ground.

He shook his head, starting to get used to the strange antics that Reborn normally throws at him. "Anyway…where have you _been_?! You disappeared when I went to find Gokudera…"

"I was investigating a jailbreak incident that happened in Italy."

"Jailbreak?" He parroted, already getting a bad feeling.

The baby nodded, and informed him of a jailbreak just two weeks before then of a high security prison reserved only for mafia criminals. The mafia tracked down the ringleaders under the jailbreak, and it was apparently two subordinates under a young man named Rokudou Mukuro. Then, following that, three students from abroad transferred into Kokuyou Jr. High and not long after a gang was formed.

Tsuna suddenly felt…tired. Like he heard a situation almost like this long ago. _A group of criminals formed under one mystery person, and they're targeting him?_ Yeah, it felt far too familiar for comfort. In fact, his mind sent him an image of people cloaked in black with red clouds…

"Tsuna," Reborn was giving him a questioning look. "Why the lack of response?"

"Oh, um…I don't know…I just…it's been a long day." He rubbed his temples as he re-thought over the whole situation, and found himself getting…angry. The thought of those people in cloaks and now this Mukuro person who had sent people to hurt his friends and innocent people…. He was furious.

"Tsuna?"

"Reborn…" He looked up at his home tutor, fury burning in his eyes. "We have to stop them."

Reborn seemed surprised, but also pleased. "Good. I was going to tell you we have to defeat them anyway, since you got this letter."

"Letter…?" He blinked as Reborn pulled out a letter from the Ninth boss from who-knows-where. "…Can I read it?" The baby handed it to him, and he read it to himself. It was a letter asking for him to capture Rokudou Mukuro and the escaped convicts, as well as the hostage they apparently had. But if he refused, he would be seen as a traitor and would have been killed. "Well that's…motivation…" Tsuna groaned and folded the paper back up.

"Well Tsuna, you've already decided."

"Yeah…" He sighed. "But _how_ am I going to do this? I mean…" He grimaced. "I don't have any ability to fight, and even Hibari was…" He swallowed, his chest clenching as he thought of Hibari hurt somewhere. "…I can't do this…" He wasn't like Hibari or like his past self, who would have run over without hesitation…he was a coward and a weak one at that. He knew this…

"Tsuna, you need to have confidence." Reborn shook his head. "The others don't think that."

"What do you…?"

"Tenth!"

He yelped, jumping as the door opened, with Gokudera walking up to him. "Let me come with you!"

"H-Huh? Did you…hear all that?"

"It wasn't hard." Bianchi came up behind Gokudera who practically screeched at the sight of her. "We can hear everything in the next room." She crossed her arms. "And I'm coming too."

" _What_?"

"I'm worried about Hayato." She answered Tsuna's question with finality. Despite her presence having the opposite effect on Gokudera, Tsuna knew he couldn't say no.

"I'm coming too!" Yamamoto walked out as well, flashing him his usual smile. "This is some kind of mafia roleplay, right?"

 _You've been tricked…_ Tsuna nearly groaned aloud, worried for his friend who clearly didn't know what he was actually in store for.

"Alright, we'll all go to the enemy grounds together then." Reborn announced, jumping up on Tsuna's shoulder. "The hostage is someone you all know well, after all."

When they turned to him for clarification he answered simply, "Fuuta."

"Tsuna."

"Hm?"

The two of them were in Tsuna's room as he changed into clothes that were easier to move in.

"Don't let your distractions get to you today."

He paused, his back to Reborn and he had just gotten his head in his shirt. "…what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." At the pause of silence, he clarified, "Hibari."

"I won't be distracted by him!" He turned around. "Everyone else will be in danger too, and Fuuta was captured—!"

"Be in denial all you want, but don't let your _feelings – whatever_ they are –for Hibari distract you from the mission." Reborn warned him. "Understand, Tsuna?"

It was tense, horribly so as they stared at each other. Tsuna was shaking, from frustration, annoyance, and the realization that he was _right._ If he worried too much about Hibari…he could end up blowing this for all of them. Just earlier, didn't he almost choose to try and find Hibari before Gokudera?

He gritted his teeth and looked away, finding his sneakers. "…fine."

 _But no promises._


	9. Taking An Offensive Part 1

Hibari was annoyed.

At this point annoyance was pretty much his constant state of being.

That damn _pineapple head_ (he could already hear Tsuna laughing at the nickname he came up with – god he missed his sunshine already) had beaten him easily. Too easily. But it hadn't been very long since one of his lackeys had picked him up and thrown him into this dark room. He was very good at tracking time – he estimated that it's been about an hour or so.

It had taken him a while to wiggle out of the rope they had tied him with. Idiots. It would take more than just _rope_ to keep him down. ( _A memory flashed in the back of his mind, his sunshine glaring up at him as he smugly told him that there were techniques to easily get out of binds. It amused him that the idiot didn't remember something so basic, but of course he didn't. It was_ _him_ _after all._ ) The last he checked the only thing that could really keep him locked in place were chains.

Still, just getting out of the rope had taken him more energy than he was willing to admit, and he was pretty sure these wounds wouldn't just fully heal in 5 minutes. He couldn't move around all that much without wasting energy he would need to kick that arrogant asshole's face in. He relished in the thought of beating down that pineapple that _somehow_ knew his weakness. _No one_ knew about that, not even his mother…he hadn't even had the opportunity to tell Tsuna about it.

It was odd, and there was still the fact that around him, his senses still felt _muddy._ It was familiar like…

 _He pinned him to the wall, forcing him to look into his red eyes. He was thrusted back then, into that time…seeing all that blood. Having to watch over and_ _over_ _as everyone was-_

He forced himself out of the memory, shivering. Nope. No. _Not now._ This was not the time to remember how he had…forced him to see images he didn't want to.

Wait.

 _Fuck_.

Hibari felt like kicking himself. Or kicking the asshole pineapple. Was that an option? Even if it wasn't he would _make_ it an option.

Illusions. The damn _fucker_ was using illusions.

Hibari was no stranger to illusions – he had quite a few memories where he used them effectively against enemies. The memory where illusions were used against _him_ haunted him every night!

Once again, he wished he still had his past abilities. They would be awfully useful in a situation like this. He could feel and imagine lightning at his fingertips, destroying the wall before him.

For now, all he could do was plan an escape.

Or at least hope for a path towards one.

The injured teen stood up, holding his side (he was pretty sure that one of the pineapple's kicks had broken a rib) and he began to look for _any_ kind of weakness on the cold, bumpy walls. He could hear things break under his feet – wood, possibly from desks, and some glass are the most prominent.

There were no weaknesses in the walls, though he could tell one was connected to a hallway. That was noteworthy for the future, but it didn't help him much at the moment.

He kicked around the room for a bit as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. His tonfa weren't here either. All he had was some small, insignificant pieces of broken glass, broken piles of wood, and the rope from earlier.

Great.

Perfect.

Wonderful.

Hibari grimaced. Despite his annoyance he had to admit, these _thugs_ were far smarter than he thought they would be.

With a sigh, he slid onto his knees, and leaned against the wall. There was no use in wasting his energy by standing. He'd have to wait until one of the pineapple's lackeys came for whatever they were planning. He would be able to fight them at that point…

But…he hated waiting.

Closing his eyes, his mind wandered where it was bright, where Tsuna was smiling and laughing and looked at him with those bright brown eyes. With a frown, he suddenly realized his last memory of him was one of worry, where Tsuna was running towards the hospital…

He really didn't want that to be his last memory of his sunshine.

He began to whistle softly, trying to calm himself down. No, he _would_ see Tsuna again. And when he did, he would have already kill- _beaten_ that pineapple and Tsuna wouldn't have to worry.

O~O~O

A small bird, one of yellow feathers and filled with absolute loyalty for their master, sang their song as they circled the area their master was trapped in.

Hibird would find help. Hibird couldn't let their master down.

O~O~O

"Whoa…" Tsuna muttered, standing in front of a gate upon an area caked in dried mud and rocks; an old Centre that was long abandoned for years. The highway was eerily quiet, and without the usual comfort of cars or civilization nearby, Tsuna felt a shiver run up his spine. "That's…really ominous…" He offered weakly to the group that seemed unaffected and said nothing at his comment. He felt almost like they were all in a horror film but only _he_ was the one who could hear the scary background music.

"Is the whole area just ruins?" Gokudera asked from behind him, looking up at the area with a vague sense of awe.

"Yes…long ago, this was all a complete entertainment resort called Kokuyou Centre." Reborn, who had climbed onto Yamamoto's shoulder moments before, informed them.

 _Kokuyou Centre…?_ The name was familiar, and for a moment he had a memory of when he was small, cheerfully holding onto his mother's hand as well as his – anyway, he could remember how popular the area was. He would often see teenagers who would hang out in front of the cinema, a karaoke club his mother adored, and a garden zoo he begged to go to whenever they visited.

But the last time they had gone, he was around five or six. It was also around the time _that guy_ started sporadically visiting…

Reborn went on to tell them how the Centre was widely popular up until a mudslide ruined the area completely. There were no plans to repair it, so they left it in the sorry state it was in now.

The story caused a sinking feeling in Tsuna's chest, who did have some fond memories here. But, the nostalgia didn't stop the uneasy feeling he had. It was like looking at the entrance of a haunted house.

Gokudera walked past him up to the chains keeping the gate locked. He inspected it for a moment before frowning. "The lock's all rusted…it doesn't look like they used it as an entrance. What should we do?" He glanced at Tsuna. The brunette blinked before letting out a surprised yelp. He wasn't exactly "leader material" after all, no matter the fact that he was supposed to become the future mafia boss.

Bianchi, luckily enough, "saved" him before he was really given any time to come up with a "solution." She easily melted the lock with her acid-like cooking (the look of it eating through the rust made Tsuna sick to his stomach) and they went through.

Tsuna shivered as the uneasy feeling intensified. He stepped closer to the others who were acting like this was just a _walk in the park_. The familiar sense of someone watching them made him extremely paranoid, and every slight noise around them made him jump.

Then there was the feeling of _Hibari_ was close was getting stronger…

He shook away the image of Hibari, pushing it to the back of his mind. He had to _focus._ If they run into Hibari, that was great, but they _needed_ to find Fuuta. That was their mission. Just thinking of what they could be subjecting the kid to made him both sick and angry.

"Tsuna."

Reborn's strangely commanding voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he glanced up at him. "Yeah…?"

"Since you've been here before, lead the way."

" _What?!"_ His jaw dropped. "The last time I was here was a long time ago!" Not to mention he still felt disoriented from the horrible flashback of that girl _dying_. Mixing that with how tense he was and the feeling of being watched wasn't at all good for him right now. He feared another flashback would slam him in the face soon, especially if they were attacked.

"Come on Tsuna," Yamamoto put a hand on his shoulder. "You can _try,_ right?" His expression formed into worry as he lowered his voice. "You don't have to if you aren't calm yet from earlier…"

Tsuna's face felt hot from embarrassment as he remembered Yamamoto had seen that awful panic attack earlier. Usually, he was away from Yamamoto and Gokudera when he would break down like that. Or, Hibari was usually the one who could realize very quickly that he had a terrible flashback and usher him away before his friends could fully see the damage. And when Hibari _wasn't_ there, he would lock himself somewhere and ride it out as long as he had to (there's been quite a few times where he's sat in the bathroom of his house, completely drained and tears dried to his face). Was he worried he would go through another one…?

It was sweet, Tsuna had to admit, but he still pulled away. He hoped his expression was reassuring, but he never _was_ good at acting. "I can do it…I think." He added under his breath, before stepping in the lead. With a quick glance around, he tried to dig up memories from this life.

 _Wasn't there…a glass building? Near the entrance…?_ He wondered as he slowed down slightly, staring at the path. _Yeah…there was a glass building that had the garden zoo…_

Sadly, the area that was supposed to hold the glass building was instead a sad site of rubble and dried mud. There was no way they could have used any of it as a hideout or even a "cell" for anyone. So Fuuta couldn't be there ( _or Hibari,_ Tsuna added to himself, dejectedly).

Still, they looked around…and Yamamoto found animal tracks.

They were huge, bigger than most dogs, and seemed to track blood. For a moment, Tsuna was reminded of a smiling boy with fangs and marks on his face, followed around by a large white dog. He suddenly wished the boy was here, vaguely remembering that he was a tracker.

Bianchi pointed out large gashes in the trees, and broken cages among the pile of rubble from the broken-down zoo that that bite marks around the edges of the bars. Matched with the sudden familiar feeling of _pure animalistic bloodlust_ he had a _suspicion_ they had walked right into their first ambush of the day.

His feeling was right when zombie-like feral animals suddenly attacked them, aiming for Yamamoto and Gokudera first.

As they began to run, another one – more human but still just as feral – came from underground, attacking the one nearest to him.

Which happened to be Yamamoto.

He slid on the ground, and fell into a hole, the mystery person who had attacked him followed, yelling, "Welcome!" with sick glee.

Reborn was the first to figure out that were standing on the roof of the garden zoo, but now all they could do was watch as Yamamoto was forced to fight one of the guys from Kokuyou.

Ken was fast, he was dangerous, and Yamamoto _still thought it was a game._

It was getting to the point where Tsuna practically just wanted to sit him down and _tell him_ he was in _actual danger_ during these fights _._ Sure, he might lose Yamamoto as a friend (and as a Family member, but Reborn was far more concerned with that than he was) but it would be worth it not to see Yamamoto hurt… 

Gokudera seemed as worried as he was, wanting to blow up the place but _couldn't_ or Yamamoto would have been buried under the rubble.

Tsuna had to admit, it was reassuring to see someone worrying just as much as he was.

It was the point where Yamamoto admitted he had important things to do this autumn, reminding Tsuna of the tournament coming up, that he felt guilt. He shouldn't have agreed to let Yamamoto come…he had more important things to worry about. He loved baseball and not being able to play this season would definitely cause him to do something drastic.

So, to answer his fears…

Reborn decided to push Tsuna in.

He felt like cursing his "mentor" with every swear he knew, and that was including the ones he made up in his past.

Yamamoto, with the new danger of his friend getting hurt, fought seriously and won. Though, he injured his arm in the process. It was well enough that he could still keep going with baseball later that season, luckily enough.

It didn't stop Tsuna from feeling guilty.

Bianchi had brought rope ("You never know when you need it, right?" Bianchi winked. Tsuna shivered.) so they tied up Ken in the hole just in case he woke up again and decided to follow them. She had also carried some medical supplies, so she cleaned and bandaged Yamamoto's wound before Reborn gave him a new bat to fight with.

"Well," Gokudera smiled wide, relief that the fight was over was prominent on his face. "We just beat the animal freak and it looks like spectacles is still out…I didn't think bringing down Mukuro would be such a breeze!"

Tsuna grimaced. If he knew _anything_ about opponents like these, there was no way that they were beaten this easily, no matter how hopeful it seemed at first.. He opened his mouth just to voice that when Ken began laughing from the hole he was in.

 _Here we go…_

"There's no way you can defeat Mukuro-san!" He laughed. "All of you are going to die before you see his face!"

Tsuna got a sudden memory of multiple people with orange hair cloaked in red. He hated how familiar it felt, it just made everything all the more _disorienting._

…wait. He might be close to Mukuro, right? Or at least, Mukuro must have shared information with him…

"H-Hey…" Tsuna went to the side of the hole, just as Gokudera threw sand in. He stopped Bianchi with a hand as she was about to knock Ken out with a large rock she had found. He looked down at Ken, his heart beating fast as he uneasily voiced his question. His voice wavered. "B-Before us…was there…another person who came here? Dark hair and eyes, wielding two tonfa and wearing the Namimori Uniform?"

Everything seemed to pause and the air felt thick. Ken stared at him in surprise, the others did as well. Gokudera let out an annoyed sound before standing up, stuffing his hands into his pockets and going to stand next to Yamamoto, grumbling. Tsuna heard a sigh from Reborn and Bianchi giggled, muttering something about "young love." He tried to ignore them, determination, anxiety, and _anger_ from a previous life fueled him, he glared down at the animalistic boy, clenching his fists.

" _Answer me._ " He practically growled through clenched teeth. "Have you _seen him_ or _not_?!"

"Oh, _that_ guy?" Ken laughed. "What, is he your _boyfriend_ or something? Well don't hold your breath! I'm sure Mukuro has thrown him away by now! _Especially_ if _you're_ here after him!"

Tsuna felt the urge to punch him, tears prickling his eyes at the thought of Hibari hurt or dead. But he knew Hibari was alive, he could _feel_ it. And he _knew_ that it wouldn't end well if he jumped in there to try to get information out of Ken first-hand.

His mind glossed over what Ken had said once again, and he tried to ignore how his cheeks were obviously going red at the _boyfriend_ comment (they're just friends! This was a completely platonic thing that was happening between them!) but it was hard to when Ken was laughing and the others, save for Gokudera, were staring at him.

"Tsuna…" Reborn suddenly called out in warning. "We talked about this…"

He gritted his teeth. Right. _Mission first, Hibari second_.

He was starting to regret "promising" that to Reborn.

 _("_ _Those that break the rules and regulations are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are even worse than scum."_ The words echoed in Tsuna's mind. He tried to ignore it.)

With a grumble at Bianchi to drop the rock, he turned away to try and calm himself. Though, he had to admit…the sound of it hitting Ken right in the face, followed by a low groan and Bianchi's comments of him twitching was sickeningly satisfying.

No one asked him about Hibari or even mentioned him as they moved on.

A part of him was incredibly grateful, even if he felt like they were judging him for letting his emotions take over like that.

O~O~O

 _Tsuna is here._

The realization came suddenly, like a slap to the face or a salty wave had hit him and knocked him to the ground.

One moment, he was trying to focus on letting his wounds heal, and in another his eyes had snapped open as the feeling hit him.

It was odd, with the realization that somehow, he was connected to Tsuna on such a level that he could _feel_ when he was nearby. It was indescribable, like an itch that wouldn't go away or the prickling feeling of something just barely grazing your skin.

He decided not to tell Tsuna this. He probably didn't feel it like he did.

Still, his heart jumped with the realization that Tsuna was probably here to look for him. And on that path, he would end up fighting the pineapple who he didn't know was using illusions for battle.

He needed to get out. Now.

Tsuna wasn't getting hurt. And if that pineapple _did_ try to hurt him…

Well, _hell_ wouldn't even be _close_ to what Hibari was going to rain down on him.


	10. Taking An Offensive Part 2

They were attacked again.

It wasn't really a _surprise_ ; they had put their guard down significantly when Tsuna asked if they could take a break and eat. But in the end, the sushi was ruined (Tsuna's stomach growled in protest of the lost meal) and Bianchi entered into a battle with a girl who used a flute as a weapon. _It felt oddly familiar, the memory of a foul-mouthed enemy who had used a flute-like weapon to attack filled Tsuna's mind at the sight of her_.

Honestly, watching a fight between someone who uses their flute to make things explode and someone who uses heavily poisoned cooking was odd yet interesting at the same time.

In the end, the girl who was greedy for money was defeated easily by Bianchi, who's twisted sense of love somehow caused her to prevail.

So Tsuna wasn't exactly expecting a man to walk up to them, holding a laptop that clearly showed a video feed of Kyoko and Haru.

"What- what are you doing with that?!"

"Now, now, calm down…" The man's smirk made Tsuna feel sick, but they were forced to stay quiet as they watched the video feed of Haru and Kyoko walking home.

The man, who's name was _Birds_ of all things, told and showed them how they were both being tailed by serial killers. And, if they didn't follow his orders, they would be killed.

Tsuna winced, already getting a terrible feeling about this.

"Now…" He smirked. "I want one of you to give the Vongola number 10 boss a real pounding, please."

" _What_?!" Gokudera was the only one to exclaim, though Tsuna swallowed.

"We…don't have a choice, right?" Tsuna muttered, glancing at his friends who stared at him in surprise.

"But Tsuna—!"

"You shouldn't—!"

"If we _don't_ Kyoko and Haru will be…!" He glanced at the screen, once again feeling sick at how the serial killers hovered over the innocent girls. Guilt ate at his chest. He swallowed before turning to Yamamoto and Gokudera. "Please just…we should get this over with. Beat me up."

 _I'm disoriented right now…so it shouldn't hurt as much since I'm used to pain in the past…_ He thought to himself, giving his best friends a pleading look.

"That's crazy…" Yamamoto muttered

"There's no way I can do something like that!" Gokudera growled

Tsuna opened his mouth again, hoping he could convince them, when Bianchi suddenly punched him, knocking him to the ground.

"S-Sis! What the hell are you doing?"

She hummed. "From the beginning, I came to Japan to kill Tsuna, right?" She seemed indifferent, cold, though she wouldn't look at any of them. Tsuna could hear the guilt in her voice. "...Lucky for me that I have this chance now."

"Right…" Tsuna muttered, rubbing his cheek. The world was twisting in his disoriented state. His cheek felt numb instead of pain, though he knew there was a bruise that would be left behind.

Birds laughed. "Nice job, one clear! Now, if you clear the next two, the girls will go free."

"A- _Another one_?" Tsuna's mouth dropped. _Of course_ , it was too good to be true; hoping that this would end after only one measly punch.

"Next then…" He reached into his coat and pulled out a sharp knife that made Tsuna's heart drop. "Please stab Sawada-kun with this knife."

"That's going to far!" Even Bianchi objected.

"Quit fucking around!" Gokudera growled, his hand twitched as if he wanted his bombs.

The man just smirked, showing that acid would be poured onto the oblivious Kyoko if they refused. Instantly, Tsuna shouted, "Stab me!"

"Wait, Tenth!"

"Tsuna you can't—!"

"I _can_ and I _will_." He pretended like his legs weren't shaking. He's been stabbed before, right? A couple of times – _he pretended like he couldn't hear his own cries of pain as the Leader stabbed spikes into his arms and legs, forcing him to stay immobile_ – he shivered. Could he handle it _now_? Could _this body_ handle it?

It would have to…for the girls who had nothing to do with this.

"J-Just give me the knife." Tsuna took it from the man, giving him a quick glare before he looked at the blade.

"Wait, Tsuna…give me the knife." Bianchi offered. He shook his head.

"…I'll stab myself." _I deserve it anyway. Yamamoto and Gokudera took plenty of wounds for me._ He took a deep breath. He felt disoriented and woozy – _was this a knife, or a kunai in his hand?_ But he still pointed the knife to his side, and hoped he wouldn't hit anything important.

With another deep breath, he was about to stab himself when a scream stopped him.

They looked up to the feed and, to their relief, Doctor Shamal had actually saved the day, as well as an older Ipin and Lambo.

Tsuna was never more grateful for the ten-year bazooka in his life.

With the girls saved and the knife dropped, it was _Tsuna_ who walked right up to the man and punched him in the face.

"Y-You brat…!"

"You thought you would just go free after endangering Kyoko and Haru like that?" He glared at him and Birds flinched (he didn't realize his eyes reflected a bit of blue and _red_ in them, causing him to look far scarier than he could imagine).

Gokudera kicked him next, effectively knocking him out, and with Doctor Shamal, Lambo and Ipin effectively taking care of everything from the other end, Tsuna felt his heartrate calm significantly.

Fuuta had appeared, only to disappear once again into the forest, claiming he couldn't go back with them.

Tsuna wasn't sure what compelled him to follow and separate from the group (Fuuta had disappeared quickly, and the rest of the group had yelled at him to come back) but he felt like _something_ was pulling him in deeper.

He stumbled out of the bush, nearly knocking into another Kokuyou student who seemed just as surprised to see him as Tsuna was.

It was odd…he felt _off_ …

…why did his hair almost resemble a _pineapple_ of all things?

"Oh?"

"U-Um…" Tsuna backed away, not really _enjoying_ the look or the aura the other male gave off.

The boy suddenly gave him a smile (Tsuna could recognize a fake smile when he saw one…) and leaned in closer. Their faces were an inch apart. Tsuna forced himself to stay still. "You're here to help us, aren't you?"

"Uh…what?"

"We're _saved_! I honestly thought we'd never make it out of here alive…" The boy put a hand on his chest, letting out what was probably a sigh of relief.

"Y-Yeah…sorry to keep you waiting…" He was still on edge, and he had a funny feeling about this guy… He kept an arms-length from him. If he wanted to fake being his ally, he would let him for the moment.

Wait a second…if he was apparently a "prisoner…" then he would know where _others_ who have been held captive are too…

"…hey…um…" Tsuna fidgeted. "Look, I'm gonna have to go back to my friends soon, but…can you answer a question for me?"

"About what?" The boy asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Well...have you seen a boy that was possibly captured here too? He has dark hair and eyes, and he's taller than me, and um…this might sound weird but he carries around these tonfa…"

He noticed a small light of recognition in the boy's eyes, but he faked a frown and shook his head. "No, sorry. They must have locked him up somewhere away from the others."

"Oh…" This guy was lying, he could _feel_ it. Tsuna stepped away. "Sorry…but I should really be heading back…the gate is open though and it's not hard to find so um…bye." He quickly jogged off before the boy could ask him anymore.

The others must be worried sick.

O~O~O

Mukuro hummed as he watched the Tenth Vongola Boss's back, before he disappeared back into the forest. How strange…it was obvious from his body language and how uncomfortable he was, he could _tell_ he was lying. But he still stayed. And even asked about Kyoya Hibari.

Oh, this was _rich_. He let out a small laugh. The boy had just _handed_ his weakness over to him.

No matter, the child seemed weak anyway. It was a good thing he hadn't killed Hibari – now he could use him against the Tenth. _If_ it was necessary.

This would definitely be fun, messing with the kid.

It was a perk that he was cute too.

O~O~O

Tsuna _hated_ his sense of direction sometimes.

He was pretty sure he had run into the trees in a straight line, but now that he was actually running back through, he wasn't sure anymore.

What was even stranger was the fact that no one had found him yet.

He expected, by now, to run into Gokudera, Yamamoto, or Bianchi at this point. Hell, he even expected Reborn! But no, the trees were quiet and the only thing he could hear was twigs and leaves crunching under his feet.

Something happened.

It was like dread had punched in his gut as soon as he realized it. Matched with the dread at the realization that he had _absolutely no idea where Hibari was_ gave him a terrible taste in his mouth. Once again, he was conflicted. He was alone again, meaning he could possibly deviate from the group and try to find Hibari first.

…but he had also promised to focus on the mission and Fuuta. And the boy was definitely acting weird earlier.

Besides, who's to say they won't accidentally find Hibari at this point? They hadn't even run into Mukuro yet!

There was still hope, right?

Of course, the first thing Tsuna would find, when he came back out, was the others facing the Mukuro Reborn had shown them in a photo. He nearly took a step back into the forest when he noticed both Gokudera and Yamamoto were down. The only one standing at this point was Bianchi.

"H-Hey!" He called attention to himself, as if he still had those blue eyes and blonde hair. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The look he gave him was enough to make him let out a small squeak of horror. _Why did I just do that?!_

"Come down here, Vongola."

"I-I…" He wanted to, oh hell he wanted to punch him. But at the same time…he couldn't fight, could he?

He hesitated half a second too long.

A couple things happened in a few seconds.

Mukuro turned on Bianchi, nearly about to kill her. A shot rang out and Tsuna felt a familiar blast of pain in his forehead – then a familiar sense of pure _regret._ The power of Dying Will burst through him, and he found himself with familiar tunnel vision, stopping the ball that was about to kill Bianchi before it could touch her.

"REBORN!" He yelled out with a growl, his pupil-less eyes glared Mukuro down. " _I will take you down with my dying will!"_

Fighting filled Tsuna with a familiar rush that was only similar to a past life, where his eyes were blue and the _burning want_ to be a leader, to be _recognized_ was in his chest. Where his goal was a lonely boy with cold dark eyes and fists were the way to settle things faster than words could.

The thrill frightened, yet energized him.

The fact that he was actually _enjoying_ being able to keep up, that he had a challenge and that the opponent in front of him would end up getting beaten…it wasn't him. Well, it was him but it _wasn't._

It was his _past_. It was the _dying will_.

It wasn't Tsuna.

Tsuna wasn't a fighter. He was a coward and a weakling at best.

Still, he fought. He fought with all he had.

But he realized something, as he kept fighting.

This person wasn't trying to kill him, not directly.

He knows how it feels. He _remembers_ what it's like to have an opponent out for your blood. To have an opponent that was fixated on seeing your blood spilled and the life forever gone from your eyes. He's experienced it too many times and this person was like another, who hadn't aimed to kill. A boy who had protected his master with his life.

The "final blow" solidified it for him. He wasn't dead.

"…You're not that evil of a person." He announced as he sat up, bruised and bloody, but still very much alive.

"You…what did you say?"

"That weak will of yours could _never_ defeat my Dying Will."

" _Will_?!" The fake Mukuro growled. "Don't talk as if you know _anything_ about me!" He ran at him. "Killing you is my true will!"

"That's a lie!" Tsuna yelled back, giving him one final blow with a punch to the abdomen. He went on his knees, coughing blood.

"H-How…?"

Tsuna sighed, feeling the power of dying will leave him. "When you attacked…you closed your eyes. You didn't let you ball finish the blow. You were…guilty, weren't you?" He looked up at him. "…you're strange. I have this feeling about you…" He looked away. "I…didn't feel any fear towards you."

"I admit defeat." The fake said with a sigh. "No wonder Rokudou Mukuro is cautious about you…"

Tsuna sighed. "…you're not the one we're looking for…" It felt familiar, he had almost guessed it. His mind turned to a group of people with orange hair, who had really been controlled by one red-haired man.

He shook his head, informing him that the real Mukuro never got his photo taken. Then, he proceeded to tell him how Mukuro was adopted by his family and ended up controlling him to kill everyone. He became a killing machine and ended up becoming the fake Mukuro because of it.

Sadly, before he could tell the real Mukuro's plans, he was attacked by the same guy who used yo-yos from the shadows and fell unconscious in front of them after giving his name – Lanchia.

Tsuna was angrier and far more disoriented than before. Seeing someone get attacked and nearly die once again in front of him was…not something he was prepared for just yet. The fight had him terribly disoriented (not to mention he was now only in his boxers). When he blinked, he would see the ruins of his home village, and when he would blink again he was back here, among his friends.

But still…the _real_ Mukuro was still waiting. And Hibari was still trapped somewhere.

Tsuna wanted to get this over with, before he collapsed from exhaustion or got any terrible flashbacks.


	11. Mukuro Part 1

_Tsuna's getting closer._

Hibari could feel it in his bones. His sunshine was _nearby_ and he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. Maybe he should be happy? Knowing that his sunshine had survived and pineapple hadn't gotten to him yet?

No…the pineapple was possibly waiting for him right now. The asshole was probably sitting with that _smirk_ on his face while Tsuna was wandering around.

He grimaced at the thought. His pain of his wounds was now dulled enough that he could possibly fight against him again, and he had even _more_ of a reason to.

Feelings of dread and panic made him antsy, so whistled softly, knowing possibly no one would hear but it helped himto _calm down_ , at the very least. The soft sound of whistling, letting air flow through his lungs, the familiar song; it helped him calm down.

At least…for now. Until he could get out.

Then that _pineapple_ would feel his _wrath_.

O~O~O

Tsuna was eternally grateful to Bianchi for having packed extra clothes – it seemed she thought of everything they needed on their trip. He was a bit surprised she had actually gone through his things to grab a spare outfit, and was silently wondering _when_ she had gone in his room (though he was glad she didn't mention the other half of his closet, the half he usually wears when alone).

After what just happened, Tsuna wasn't exactly in the mood to speak to the others. Yamamoto was completely out of commission for the rest of the battle, and they had pretty much wasted their trump card – the last Dying Will bullet. Even if they _do_ find Mukuro, there was no way they could defeat him while he was like this.

He's weak. There's no way to go around that.

The small group explored the building named the Kokuyou Healthy Land. The inside was as messy and broken as outside, almost like they had missed out on a battle hours before. They went around several rooms, only to find each staircase was destroyed.

"Mukuro is most likely on the upper floors." Reborn said, turning to the others. "There should be a flight of stairs somewhere."

Tsuna nodded silently, grimacing. He _felt_ familiar with this, and he wasn't sure if that was concerning or not…He needed rest. He need a place to sit down that was _quiet_ and _calm_ and let him place his memories together. But, obviously, he wasn't going to get that. Not yet, at least. Mukuro needed to be handled first. _Then_ , he'd sleep for two days straight.

But there's also Hibari to worry about... He could _feel_ him. He could _tell_ he was in this building. But with Reborn's watchful eye there was no way he could slip from the group to try and find him. Besides, he did _promise_ he would focus on Fuuta first.

It seemed as every second passed he was regretting making that promise.

Still, he'd keep it. He just _hoped_ that they would run into Hibari as they looked for Mukuro…

The group continued on their search to find a set of stairs that _weren't_ damaged. It took a couple minutes, but they finally spotted an emergency ladder that led upstairs.

"Guys…" Tsuna spoke up for the first time in about fifteen minutes, immediately making six eyes turn to him.

"What's wrong Tenth?"

"I just…have a bad feeling, that's all." He muttered, rubbing his temple as a soft throbbing pain began just behind his eyes.

He didn't see Bianchi frown, but he did feel her hand on his shoulder.

"…Tsuna, are you alright?"

"Wait, Tenth, are you in pain?" The two began to hover over him worriedly.

"What? No, no. I'm just—" He turned to face them, but found someone had come up behind them.

It was the boy who wielded yo-yos, Chikusa.

He let out a surprised yelp, making the siblings turn as well. Gokudera immediately stepped in front of him in a protective stance. In a second, he had thrown out dynamite.

They all expected an explosion, not the thick gas that caused a smokescreen around them.

"Tenth." Gokudera just barely looked at him. "Please, go ahead, leave everything to me."

"Gokudera…"

"Hayato, listen to me…" Bianchi began to tell him how it was Doctor Shamal's trident mosquito that saved his life, and by going through this battle he would have to suffer painful attacks again.

"Wait, if you're going to be in pain again-" Tsuna began to interrupt but Gokudera shook his head.

"That's why I'm here. Please, go." His eyes were pleading and determined. Tsuna faltered. He didn't want to see his friend hurt but he was obviously stubborn about this…

"But…" As he began to argue weakly, Bianchi grabbed his arm.

"Let's go, Tsuna." She wouldn't look at him.

"Bianchi…!"

"Tenth, _please_." He fixed him with one of his smiles, a little forced, but also a bit hopeful. "Once this is over, we'll go hang out sometime, ok?"

Tsuna stared a moment before nodding, giving him a smile in return. "You better keep that promise, Gokudera." He gave him one last look before turning to follow Bianchi and Reborn up the ladder and through the second and third floors.

"Tsuna."

"Hm?" He glanced up at the woman who had stopped, suddenly frowning at him and putting a hand over his forehead.

"You get headaches frequently, right? And panic attacks?"

His face flushed in embarrassment; he pushed her hand away and took a step back. He humored the idea about lying for a moment, but a part of him knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. She _is_ a well-known hitman after all, she'd probably see through his lies easily. "Y-Yeah…but what does that have to do with anything?"

Her expression was disapproving. She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. "It's easy to tell, before we came here you went through a bad panic attack – don't give me that look you it was obvious - and panic attacks can drain your energy. And the longer you stay the more your behavior changes slightly. If you need rest you can say."

 _Have I really been that obvious?_ Guilt clawed in him. "…I-I don't need rest. I'm fine." _New plan just lie._

"Like _hell_ you are." She set her jaw, her voice raised.

" _Bianchi_." It was Reborn who interrupted this time. His eyes, though, were on Tsuna who refused to look at either of them. "…we have to keep moving. It's dangerous to stop and rest, even if Tsuna isn't feeling well. You still feel ready to fight, right Tsuna?"

He immediately nodded despite the glare Bianchi gave the two of them. "Let's just find Mukuro and take care of this quickly. Then I _promise_ I'll go sit and rest somewhere. Ok, Bianchi?"

She stared at him for a moment before giving a long, almost suffering sigh. " _Fine_." She turned away. "The cinema is on this floor, so let's check there."

Tsuna nodded and followed right behind her, staring at her back. He hadn't expected _Bianchi_ of all people to care so much about his well-being. Sure, he knew that by now, nearly everyone around him had an idea of his panic attacks and headaches. But no one really questioned it – except for Hibari, the only one who knows the _cause_ of them.

He glanced at Bianchi for a moment. He thought she, of all people, absolutely _hated_ him because of her strange attachment to Reborn. She didn't really come off as someone who would actually care –

 _A blonde woman leaned down before him, smiling. She smelled vaguely like alcohol but her aura towards him was almost motherly. "You'll be a fine man someday." She told him fondly. He wondered, for a moment, if this was what it's like to have a mother or older sister._

"Tsuna?!"

Strong, feminine arms caught Tsuna as he nearly fell over. He stared at the dirt road – no, _tile ground_ beneath him. He could feel Bianchi at his side, holding him in place as he focused on counting the tiles, trying to ground himself to _this_ reality and not the _past_.

"Tsuna, are you alright?" Bianchi's voice was soft, it reminded him of that woman. No wonder he had that flashback so suddenly.

He pulled away, but the older woman still hovered near him like he was a piece of glass that would fall over again. He nodded, rubbing his temples. "I'm…fine. I'm fine. I just got…dizzy." That was a good excuse, right?

"Reborn," Bianchi turned to the baby who seemed almost lost in thought. "He needs _rest_."

"…Tsuna…this is up to you." Reborn sounded almost careful. "If you think you need rest, we can find a safe place to stop for a minute."

"N-No. No. I told you two I'm _fine._ " He stepped away from Bianchi. "I just got a little dizzy, that's all!"

"But _Tsuna_."

"We need to find Fuuta and Mukuro." Tsuna reminded her, and turned to Reborn. "And _you_ made me promise to focus on the mission! I'm fine. I can handle this."

"…fine."

" _Reborn_." Bianchi immediately protested, though Reborn shook his head.

"He says he's fine, so we'll move on. _But_." He gave Tsuna a stern look. "If you nearly pass out again, we'll make you stop."

"…ok." He frowned at the thought. He didn't really _fight_ at all today. He was the one least deserving of a break.

Still, he walked on with Bianchi, towards the cinema. They opened the fairly rusty doors to the large room and peaked in. It was dark – not strange, considering it was a cinema – and empty. The chairs were cleared out so all that was left were ripped curtains and a…couch?

At the far end of the room was a _couch_ covered in several fluffy pillows and someone familiar sat on it.

"I'm very happy that we could meet again." The familiar boy said, fixing him with a smile that screamed danger.

"I-It's you!" Tsuna exclaimed in surprise, stepping into the room. "What are you doing here?! If…you were _really_ a hostage…wouldn't you have left already?!" He demanded, the boy only smirked as if amused.

"…how _cute_."

"W-What?"

"Tsuna, who's this?" Bianchi interrupted, glaring the boy down. Her stance was guarded as she stood next to him.

"…this is a Kokuyou student I met in the forest earlier. He…told me he was a hostage." He explained, watching the boy who only sat forward, resting his arms on his knees.

"Why don't you come closer? I'd like to take some time to know you better…Tenth Vongola Boss."

"…you know who I am…" Tsuna muttered in shock.

Bianchi took a step forward, glaring the boy down. "Tsuna…this isn't a hostage."

"That's right." The boy looked as if he was _laughing_ at them. "I'm the _real_ Rokudou Mukuro."

Tsuna's heartbeat skyrocketed in panic. He could feel the danger in the room, even if _Mukuro_ was sitting.

The sound of the rusty doors closing startled him. He ignored Mukuro's laugh to turn to the door, expecting some other fighter he hadn't seen before now, or one of the ones they had knocked out.

Instead, Fuuta stood, fixing them with a blank expression.

O~O~O

There was a battle going on.

Hibari could hear it, he could _feel_ it and the antsy feeling under his skin made him want to join in. It was close, so close he could _taste_ it.

He wished he had his tonfa.

It was annoying, having no control over his current situation. He tried to make out the voices – and only completely recognized that _smoker's._ The two others he recognized as lackeys of the damn pineapple's.

His leg bounced in impatience, hoping one of the bombs the smoker was no doubt throwing would hit the wall in front of him.

O~O~O

"Fuuta! You scared me…" Tsuna sighed in relief. The grin on his face was wide, and relief settled in his chest. That was one less thing to worry about…

"Looks like you're alright…" Bianchi smiled next to him.

Fuuta didn't answer. His eyes were blank.

Tsuna instantly got a terrible feeling.

"I-I searched for you after we met earlier…" He searched for any change in experession as he talked to the younger boy. "…Fuuta?"

"It's dangerous here. You better step back." Bianchi didn't seem to notice Fuuta was acting strangely just yet.

Once again, Fuuta didn't answer.

He brandished a knife.

Tsuna barely got to warn Bianchi before she was stabbed right in front of him.

"Bianchi!" He cried out, panic starting to shorten his breath. _Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead!_

On the far end of the room, Mukuro smirked.

O~O~O

 _Come on…_ The explosions had died down, and Hibari almost expected that Gokudera was dead. Though, the annoying smoker had more determination than that. He wouldn't die so soon. Besides, if he died, Tsuna wouldn't forgive him. And he _knew_ how much the boy adored his sunshine.

They sounded closer.

With a smirk, he prepped himself. Without his tonfa, it would be a bit harder, but he was sure he could find them as soon as he broke out. Then, from there, he would find Tsuna.

The wall exploded, and crumbled in front of him.

He bunched up to avoid most of the damage, some scrapes from the concrete walls hitting him did little to no damage. He glanced up as it finally died down, and caught sight of two subordinates and a nearly dead Gokudera.

Gokudera chuckled, fixing him with a smirk. "Don't you look well?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly, before turning to the other two. Obstacles. "…how is Tsuna?"

They glanced at each other for a moment; a silent agreement was made.

"…he's alright. A little tired but alright." Gokudera muttered back. "He's off to fight Mukuro."

He made a sound of annoyance, "…I'll take care of these…animals."

It would be nice to feel their bones break under his tonfa before he went to do the same to Mukuro. A nice… _warm up_ battle.

Hibird landed on his shoulder. He held back a fond smile at his companion. He'd have to find a treat for the small bird later.

Ignoring the obstacles that were talking before him, he glanced at Gokudera. He was bleeding out and clearly losing a lot of energy. "If you die, Tsuna won't forgive you." He reminded him softly.

"Fuck off." Gokudera muttered back. He got the message.

"Hn." He replied softly, before turning back to the obstacles in his way. A smirk formed on his face. This was going to be _fun_.

The puppy came at him first.

His tonfa were on the ground.

It took one hit to send him flying through a window and out the building. Hm…that might have killed him.

Oh well.

He glanced at the other who seemed to be holding yo-yos. He narrowed his eyes. Hibari raised his tonfa in response.

"I'll bite you to death."


	12. Mukuro Part 2

"Please don't die Bianchi…please don't die…" Tsuna muttered in panic, trying to calm himself down as he approached the woman bleeding out on the floor. He kneeled next to her – how does he patch up wounds again? Ugh, if only Sakura was here!

Wait…who's Sakura?

A moment of confusion passed on his face, before he shook his head, turning to Fuuta, who held the bloody knife.

"Fuuta…what are you doing?!"

The boy didn't answer. Instead he walked up to him and tried to stab him. He quickly dodged – there was enough hesitation in the strike and he was surprisingly fast enough to avoid it.

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you doing this?!" Tsuna demanded, backing away.

The boy still didn't answer. His eyes were blank.

"His mind is being controlled." Reborn said from his place watching over Bianchi.

"What…?" Has he dealt with mind control before? His mind was jumbled and panicked. He couldn't _remember_.

 _Of course! The one time I_ _want_ _to remember something, I can't!_ He thought bitterly, dodging another one of Fuuta's strikes. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up.

Mukuro laughed.

"Reborn!" He glanced back at the baby, trying to keep an eye on Fuuta and the _knife._ "What do I—ack!" He let out a cough as a whip wrapped around his neck, and he was dragged back towards Reborn, effectively choking him.

"I borrowed this whip from Dino earlier. Use it to fight."

The grip around his neck loosened, but he knew it would leave a bruise. With a grimace, he took the whip from him. He's _never_ used a whip. As far as he could remember in his past life, a majority of the attacks he used were from a close distance. How the hell do you use a whip?!

" _Kufufufu_ …" Mukuro had pure amusement written on his face. "What will you do now, Vongola Boss?"

Tsuna nearly jumped, suddenly remembering Mukuro was _there_.

If Mukuro was the one mind controlling Fuuta…

Then by defeating him, that would break it, right?

With a new resolve, he dodged another one of Fuuta's strikes and ran right for Mukuro.

Slight surprise showed on his face, and he smirked. "Oh? What a _cute_ idea…thinking you can attack me…"

He ignored the boy's taunt and glanced back at Fuuta who was right behind him. "Don't come closer!" Glancing back at Mukuro, he gripped the whip. "I have no choice…"

He attacked with what he _hoped_ was a firm swing – but the end of the whip ended up smacking his face and tangling his feet.

" _Ow_." He groaned, thoroughly embarrassed as Mukuro laughed above him.

"Kuhahaha! You surprise me, cute Boss, as always."

 _Did…he just call me cute?_

"Oh, look, better watch your back…it's dangerous." He said cheerfully, before Tsuna could really think about what he just said.

"Wha…?" He glanced back, and saw Fuuta tangled up in the rope of the whip. Then, he noticed the knife had fallen beside him.

Before Fuuta could grab it, Tsuna quickly knocked it out of reach, blocking the boy's movements.

For the first time since coming into the room, Tsuna looked properly at Fuuta's eyes.

They were the same as Lanchia's.

…Fuuta's been controlled by Mukuro for who _knows_ long. He must have felt the same guilt that man did – waking up out of the control only to find the people he's hurt…

Is it possible Mukuro has forced him to kill too?

He looked up and realized, in his distraction, Fuuta had grabbed the knife and came at him with it in hand. "F-Fuuta…!" He stared into his eyes, trying to convey compassion and honesty. " _It's not your fault_."

The boy paused. Tsuna nearly sighed in relief but he went on, ignoring the knife pointed just a few centimeters away from his face. " _None_ of it is your fault." His voice was firm, perhaps a bit softer. "We're all still on your side. You don't have to worry just…come with us. Please?"

Fuuta's expression was in shock, before he flinched, holding his head like he was in pain.

"Fuuta?!"

"Tsu…" The boy glanced up, tears were welling in his eyes. " _Tsuna-nii_ …" He choked out before falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Fuuta!" He went over to the boy, putting him on his back and starting to notice his nose and ears were starting to bleed. "No, no... I'm so sorry Fuuta…what do I do?" He asked softly, hating he had no medical experience.

He hated that he wished for a girl named Sakura to be here, even if he couldn't pin the name to a face.

"I believe he hasn't slept at all these past 10 days…" Mukuro suddenly spoke up, and he turned to him. He still sat, smirking as he lounged on his couch. Tsuna clenched his fists, wanting to walk over and punch him. It was because of _him_ all this had happened after all.

Mukuro continued to talk, as if unaware of the near murderous thoughts Tsuna was having towards him. He told him of how he had come to Japan purely to find Tsuna, so they decided to use Fuuta and his list of strong fighters to try and flush them out.

"Our plan was a huge success." Mukuro smirked, obviously proud of himself. "The Vongola is standing before me, right now."

"How…how _dare_ you…" Tsuna muttered.

"Hm?"

Tsuna turned, gritting his teeth as _anger_ festered in his chest. He glared Mukuro down, the other boy seemed surprised, before licking his lips.

"Rokudou Mukuro…What the _hell_ do you think people are?!"

"Toys…I suppose." He answered with a smirk

"You…I _pity_ you." Tsuna announced with a glare. That just surprised Mukuro again, before his expression settled into amusement.

"Oh? You _pity_ me?"

"Yes. I do. Humans have _emotions._ Humans aren't just…just _puppets_ or _playthings_ you can use to your will! And I _pity_ you." He gripped the whip, starting to approach Mukuro with anger festering. "I fucking _pity_ you for thinking so _lowly_ of others! _No one_ should go through manipulation like that!" With that, he ran the rest of his way, wanting to punch that amused smirk off the boy's face.

In the second he tried to use his whip, he somehow found himself behind Mukuro…

And covered head to toe in cuts.

" _Ow_." He muttered. He wasn't _used to_ wounds in this life – well, _yet_. And in that life…for some reason he was sure he would have healed in a minute. But _here_ the wounds stayed, bleeding and the red metallic liquid began to soak into his shirt.

"What's the matter?" Mukuro asked, tauntingly.

He turned to glare at him. "…what happened?"

Mukuro's eye was revealed to have purple Dying Will flames covering it – and he also apparently had the powers of the six paths of reincarnation.

…six paths…

 _Six Paths…._

Why did that sound so familiar?

Why…did he have he feeling that he had the power of the Six Paths before?

"…why do you have that? You _shouldn't_ have that. You _can't_ use it." Tsuna muttered, memories were colliding as he tried to figure out why he _knows this_.

"Oh? I told you, my body—"

" _No._ That's _wrong._ To get the Six Paths you need…you need to be…" Tsuna faltered. You need to be _what_?

"Oh…you seem to know a bit about Six Paths. Why are you confused?"

He ignored Mukuro, squinting into the distance. Reality warped before his eyes, memories of _war_ flashed in front of him. He…he _had_ that power. It was _different_ though. It wasn't the way Mukuro described. No…but then…how had _he_ gotten it? Back then?

"Don't get distracted now." Mukuro chided him, breaking him out of his thoughts but…there was still a war going on in his head.

It didn't help when Mukuro used an illusion against him.

"I…the ground…is it normal?" Tsuna muttered, almost afraid to touch it. Maybe he _should_ have accepted Bianchi's offer of rest earlier. Every time he blinked he thought he was in a war zone, surrounded by soldiers.

"Tsuna, get yourself together." Reborn slapped him.

He scowled. "Not fucking _helping_ Pervy- Reborn." Now he was mixing them up…this was great. Just great.

Mukuro brought out snakes next.

It reminded him of a large snake in a forest with high trees. One that _ate_ him-

"W-Wait, wait…I can't…slow _down_." Fuck, his memories were colliding in a haphazardly painful way. Mukuro was a danger but why did he see that _snake bastard_ when he looked at him? He had to _try_ and keep it together…

"Tsuna."

That voice wasn't Reborn's. Or Mukuro's.

This voice immediately made relief settle in his chest. He nearly choked out a sob as he spotted dark hair.

The snakes exploded under him.

"G-Gokudera! Hibari!" He cried out in excitement and pure relief. They both looked worse for wear, and Hibari dumped Gokudera to the side.

"We're even." He said firmly before heading over to Tsuna, bending down in front of him. Tsuna barely had time to chastise him for pushing Gokudera to the side when the boy suddenly put his hands on his cheeks. His hands were a bit rough but the familiar warmth was more than welcomed. "Tsuna. Focus."

"I'm _trying,_ asshole." He muttered. He was so _close_. _Too_ close. He wanted to hug him, to cry, he didn't know. But he wanted relief of this _joy_ that sprouted in his chest seeing Hibari was alright.

They locked eyes for a moment.

And in that moment, Tsuna wondered if Hibari was going to kiss him.

The other boy, to his disappointment (not that he was hoping _that much_ for a kiss…), only answered with a chuckle. "I'll take care of him. You sit here and try to calm down."

He pulled away a bit too soon. Tsuna tried to ignore the heat rising to his cheeks and his erratic heartbeat. He felt…far more _grounded_ than he did earlier, at the very least.

"How… _touching_." Mukuro practically purred. Tsuna had nearly forgotten he was there. "I _knew_ you had a weakness Hibari – who knew there was more than just one? Hm…perhaps I should have expected this. Vongola here was awfully worried earlier when he asked about you."

Hibari didn't even blink. He only narrowed his eyes. Despite his emotionless mask Tsuna could tell there was rage just under his skin. He _looked_ and _felt_ dangerous – matched with the blood, soot and dirt covering him it just amplified the obvious threat Hibari imposed.

"Are you ready to repent?" Hibari finally spoke, in a voice that sent a chill down Tsuna's spine.

"How frightening." Mukuro's lips curled up, amused. He didn't seem at all intimidated. "I know you'd like to avenge yourself and your _boyfriend_ …but don't get in my way. I'm having _fun_ with Vongola, and you shouldn't even be standing, should you? How many bones in your body have I broken?"

His voice was teasing. Tsuna's heart clenched. He expected that the blood was from someone he fought but it obviously _wasn't_. How hurt was Hibari?

 _How badly did Mukuro hurt him?_

"Are those your final words?" Hibari's voice was sharp.

" _Kufufufu_ …what interesting things you say." Mukuro merely laughed. "No choice then. Let's dispose of you first."

"H-Hibari! He uses Dying Will Flames!" He quickly warned him. He desperately wanted to fight but he knew he would be useless in this battle.

He glanced at him with a slight nod before they began their attack, so fast Tsuna couldn't follow it with his current skill level.

 _Wait…I'm supposed to be focusing…_ He closed his eyes. The sounds of battle faded into the distance. He trusted Hibari not to let him get hurt as he tried to ground himself further.

This was his reality. This was his life. He wasn't blonde. He didn't have blue eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he let out a gasp. Hibari was bleeding and surrounded by…cherry blossoms?

Wait…did he…have the disease…?

"Hibari!" He stood, ready to get him out of there at a moment's notice.

"Tenth, stop." Gokudera put a hand on his shoulder. When had he walked up next to him?

"But Gokudera," he immediately protested, "Hibari is…!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Gokudera practically shoved a prescription in his face. On the description was Doctor Shamal's name, along with how many tablets to take for the Sakura-kura disease. It seemed some was taken already.

The puzzle piece connected and Tsuna sighed in relief. Knowing now that the boy he cared for would be alright, he watched as Hibari gave a blow to Mukuro's chest, making him fall unconscious.

The Sakura blossoms began to disappear, and Tsuna jogged over. "Hibari! Are you alright?"

Hibari glanced at him, as if taking one final look to make sure he was ok…before falling over in a faint.

"H-Hibari!" Without hesitating, Tsuna went on his knees next to the boy. "Please be ok…" He turned Hibari onto his back, hovering over him. He hasn't really seen Hibari sleep before, despite the two of them sometimes sleeping in the same bed. The boy was very…pretty. Even when covered in dirt and blood he had this _majestic_ feel to him.

Almost in a trance, Tsuna moved a hand towards Hibari's face. To cradle it? To brush away his bangs? He wasn't sure, since Reborn shocked him out of his trance.

"He's been fighting even through all those injuries…." Reborn was standing next to him. "It must have been vexing for him to lose that first time…considering his reasons for wanting to defeat Mukuro in the first place." Reborn glanced at him, but Tsuna looked away, trying to pretend he _wasn't_ blushing.

Besides there was more to worry about. Hibari was definitely far more hurt than he was letting on and he felt worry and _anger_ fester in his gut.

With a yelp, he suddenly remembered Bianchi and Fuuta was _also_ injured. "Wait, we need to hurry and get everyone to the hospital!"

"Don't worry." Reborn answered. "The Vongola's best medical team is on their way here."

"That's good to know…"

"Wait, Gokudera…" Tsuna turned to the boy, suddenly guilty as he had focused mostly on Hibari as soon as they came in earlier, instead of his friend. The boy looked like he'd been through hell. "You should take it easy for a while. Sit down…"

"There's no need for a medical team."

They turned – Mukuro was sitting up, very much conscious and holding a gun right at them. "Because there will be no one left alive here." He smirked.

"Bastard!" Gokudera growled.

" _Kufufufu…"_

Tsuna shivered, suddenly getting a _terrible_ feeling.

" _Arrivederci._ " He spoke in Italian, and gave them a horrifyingly chilling smile.

The loud, but familiar sound of a gunshot rang out, and Mukuro slumped to the ground.

The feeling didn't go away. Even as Tsuna stared at his dead body, he just had a _feeling_ this wasn't the end. That he hadn't just killed himself. No, he had _threatened_ them before he did it…

"Guys…don't relax." Tsuna muttered.

"What's wrong, Tenth?" Gokudera frowned.

"…I have a _really_ bad feeling." Tsuna's eyes didn't leave the dead body. An image of a long-haired man with snake-like features passed in his mind.

There was a sound behind them and they turned to see Bianchi starting to sit up.

While the other two greeted her, telling her to take it easy, Tsuna took a step back. There was something… _off_ about her. Something eerily _familiar_ about her facial expression.

"Gokudera! Don't get any closer!"

"Huh?"

He turned to Tsuna with a frown. "Tenth, it's just Sis."

"I...but…" He glanced at Bianchi and felt a shiver down his spine.

"What's wrong, Tsuna? Lend me your shoulder too…" Bianchi's expression was soft, but he took another step back.

 _I don't trust this._

He was proven right when Bianchi suddenly began attacking them.

"Rokudou Mukuro…" Tsuna glared at him through Bianchi.

Mukuro laughed, revealing himself through his eye on Bianchi's face. "And so, we meet again, Vongola."

Tsuna was forced to watch as Mukuro hopped bodies. From Bianchi, he went to Gokudera, and back to Bianchi…and then to Hibari.

"You better _let him fucking go_." Tsuna growled as Mukuro laughed.

"Ah, I _would_ use this body…but he's quite broken…" Panic stabbed into his chest as he laughed again. "To think he could fight with this body…how frightening."

Before he could open his mouth to reply angrily, Hibari fell over and he was back to possessing both Gokudera and Bianchi. Then, he brought in Ken and Chikusa too.

Four people.

He was possessing _four people at once._

And Tsuna felt absolutely helpless.

He was attacked in an endless barrage of the abilities of his friends and Mukuro's attacks, as well as illusions. Reborn was trying to help, but Tsuna couldn't help but doubt his ability to do much other than ward off the attacks for a short while.

Reborn was telling him he could surpass himself. That he could _do_ something.

But _how_?!

This wasn't his past. He didn't have chakra. He wasn't a ninja. He was a kid who relied too much on everyone around him to solve his problems.

He was completely useless.

Mukuro was pushing the bodies too far. He admitted it. He had broken the bodies of his subordinates but he still kept _moving._

What the _hell_ did he think he was doing?

"Those…those are the bodies of your friends!" Tsuna ignored his pain as he stood up to glare at the Mukuro in Chikusa. "You can't just _use_ them to your liking!" He gritted his teeth. " _No one_ deserves to be used. No one deserves to live just to be a weapon for your selfish desires. _No one_." He looked up at him, ignoring the obvious surprise in his features. "Not even them. Not even you."

"…you seem to speak from experience, Vongola." Mukuro replied softly, from Bianchi's body. Softly, but _thoughtfully_. "You're interesting, Vongola…I have a proposition for you." He switched to Gokudera's body as he said this, smirking in a way that made Tsuna's skin crawl.

"…what?"

"As you can see…my possession is forcing your friends to move. And every second we drag on this fight…they lose more blood."

He bit his lip, tensing up as he realized he was _right_. Every second they stayed standing they were losing blood. At this rate they were surely going to die of blood loss in a couple of minutes.

"…what do you want?"

"I'll let go of your friends if you let me possess you."

"You…what? You want _what_?"

"Did you not hear me, Vongola?" Mukuro smirked. He hated the amusement on his face.

"N-No I heard you. You're just…going to make me choose? How fucking _cruel_ can you be?" He asked with a glare, it only darkened when Mukuro laughed.

" _Kufufufu_ I wouldn't _stall_ if I were you Vongola…your friends are fading fast. You're the kind of person who would take a knife in your gut for some girl, right? Then…I would make my decision fast."

"I-I…" He couldn't _accept_ , that would be giving Mukuro free reign of his body…free reign over the Vongola. He would be used as a weapon – _at least he would have control over the decision this time…_

"Are you _hesitating_?" Mukuro smirked.

"…you _fucking asshole_." Tsuna muttered under his breath. "You…you're so cruel. Throwing away people's _feelings_ and _lives_ like this? You aren't a _ruler_ or some _mythical being_ just because you have the Six Paths!" He growled. "Mukuro…I _will_ defeat you."

 _I may not know_ _how_ _but I will._

Leon began to shine.

Not even 30 seconds later, Tsuna found himself with a pair of woolen gloved with 27 marked on them, along with a new bullet.

So of course, Reborn shot him.

And Tsuna was gifted with a new Dying Will.

The gloves changed and orange flames sprouted from his head and gloves. He glared Mukuro down, the power fueled him – it felt so _familiar_ and _warm._

He felt powerful.

"Mukuro…" He was unaware of the orange glow of his eyes as he glared, or how his voice changed into a scary calm. (Why did _Sage Mode_ come into his mind?) "I will defeat you, even if I'm dying…I _refuse_ to lose to someone like you!"

This new Dying Will was a _rush_ that Tsuna hardly expected. For the first time in this life, he felt completely _calm_ and _sure_ in his capabilities. His strength felt new yet familiar, as if he had slipped back into his past body. He saw through the illusions easier, (he noticed now they tried to fight against his senses, which also seemed to be on overdrive) and Chikusa and Ken went down easily.

It was slightly harder to go against Bianchi and Gokudera. He fought not to hurt them, but instead protect _their_ bodies from possible injuries. Reborn was talking behind him to Mukuro – something about how he awakened some _Hyper Intuition_. Made sense, actually.

Once Bianchi and Gokudera were officially unconscious, he turned to Mukuro.

It was time to end this. Once and for all.

Mukuro was a hard opponent.

He only knew this because he could gauge him against past lives (strange, how this mode seemed to make it easier for him to ground himself). Not to mention, there was quite a gap in their strength. Mukuro was obviously running not only on his power of the Six Paths, but the experience he's had fighting before.

But Tsuna knew he could be stronger.

In these next few minutes, he _would_ be.

He called on his flames.

Fighting Mukuro became easier with every second and strangely, Mukuro seemed to be _loving_ it. Loving the implications that it held if he managed to possess Tsuna. How he could easily accomplish his goal of "changing the ugly world" but first, attacking the mafia first.

Not like that would ever happen. Not like Tsuna would allow himself to be used for someone else's gain. _Never. Again._

Besides, he was _tired_. He felt like he's heard this spiel of making the world a better place through blood and fear. Maybe because he _has_. He may not have the complete memories for it, but he was sure he's heard it more than once in the past.

Basically? He wasn't impressed.

He attacked. Mukuro attacked back. He underestimated his opponent a few times, used his flames…

And in the end, he _purified_ the dark aura around Mukuro.

Or, at least, that's what Reborn said he did.

"It's over." Reborn announced, after a moment looking at Mukuro's body.

"…I…" Tsuna frowned as he let his flames dispel. "…Reborn, did I…did I kill him?" The fear came so suddenly. He didn't know how to control his power very well yet, and he _knew_ he was very capable of killing someone.

And he didn't want to. Even if it was someone like Mukuro.

Reborn raised an eyebrow but, seeing the genuine worry on Tsuna's face, it seemed he decided to indulge him. He walked over to Mukuro's body and checked for a pulse.

A beat passed.

"He's fine. Just unconscious."

Tsuna sighed in relief. "Good…I really do pity him, though." Tsuna muttered, looking down at Mukuro. "He…feels like _other_ people…who went down the wrong path. Who were wronged and decided the world needed to pay for it." Sadness crept into Tsuna's heart. "…I wish I could help him." He muttered. He was sure he could have done it in his past…but that wasn't him.

That wasn't Tsuna.


	13. The Aftermath of Mukuro

_My student is odd._ Reborn decided, filled to the brim with pure curiosity. _Very, very odd._

Tsuna, as far as he knew, was "no good." But, at the same time, he watched him flourish into an amazing fighter. Amateur – but amazing, with plenty of untapped potential that was just bursting to flourish. They would have to work on that _self-esteem_ of course. It was holding Tsuna back far more than he seemed to realize.

But…Tsuna was _also_ strangely…determined. With a fire in his eyes that Reborn has only seen in seasoned fighters. But this was Tsuna's first _real_ battle. Yet he acted almost as if he knew this situation already. Like he had lived it before.

Tsuna was just a conundrum in a mystery. And Reborn was aching to know the answers to his questions.

He watched with narrowed eyes as Tsuna talked to Chikusa and Ken, and learned about how they were used for guinea pigs to become human weapons.

Tsuna's eyes widened in pure shock, before it turned to anger and sadness. Yet, _familiarity_. Like he heard it before. Like he _experienced it himself_.

What _was_ Tsuna? He seemed to have a strangely personal attachment to their story. In fact, manipulation and being used as a weapon seemed to trigger something like anger in him. It was obvious by the way he spoke to Mukuro earlier. But as far as Reborn knew, Tsuna lived a normal life with his mother before now.

Yes, Tsuna was odd. But that intrigued him. He was enticed to learn more. He desperately wanted to, just to understand what goes on in Tsuna's head.

He stood and watched with him as the Vindice took Mukuro, Chikusa and Ken away.

It was officially over.

O~O~O

This felt like possibly one of the longest and most emotionally draining days of Tsuna's life. He felt for them. He felt for Mukuro and his small team so much because even though he couldn't _fully_ understand a part of him _did_. He hated the idea of being used and manipulated like a weapon. They hated that it was their _reality_ that they were used and manipulated to be a weapon.

They were just trying to run from it. He had done it successfully. Even if it was in a far-off past, and he had to die to do it.

Pain was starting to wrack his body and he was _exhausted._ But…even so he fought unconsciousness. He couldn't rest just yet. No, he had to make sure the others were alright first. He stood and watched in silence as the Vongola Medical team came in, placing his friends on stretchers.

He saw Hibari's unconscious face and he winced. If Mukuro was telling the truth…he was completely exhausted and probably had more injuries than all of them combined…

"…ow ow _fuck_." He winced, sitting and holding his body, as if trying to keep the pain inside. "Fuck, fuck, fuck _ow."_

"Language Tsuna." Reborn hummed

"Shut up P-" The name _Pervy Sage_ was on his tongue but he held it back. They weren't similar at all yet he couldn't help confusing them in his mind. Perhaps he was just too…sentimental about his past mentor.

"The new bullet abuses the body; you must be experiencing intense muscle pain."

"Wow, you sound almost concerned, Reborn." Tsuna muttered, laying down and curling up in pain and exhaustion. He blacked out before he could hear Reborn's answer.

O~O~O

Hibari woke up in a hospital bed.

He hated hospitals.

Almost immediately, he tried to get up and leave but a nurse had stopped him at the door, immediately shooing him back into bed. She had short red hair and glasses, and doted on him quite a bit. It felt _familiar._ A name was on his tongue but he couldn't place it…

( _He tried to ignore images of a girl wearing purple, covered in bite-marks up her arms looking at him in pure awe and fondness. He tried to push away the images of him hurting her because he was sure he's hurt so many like her before.)_

He didn't get the nurse's name – probably because he never asked and she never provided it - but maybe it was because she felt so familiar he stayed in bed like she practically ordered.

Hospitals are boring. He spent most of his time napping or thinking or looking out the window. The scenery never changed, so he got bored of that quickly. He wanted desperately to find Tsuna but he wasn't allowed to leave and he knew she wouldn't tell him if he asked.

He had a feeling the baby was behind that.

It took five hours for the door to finally open. His red-haired nurse was carrying _Reborn_ on her shoulder.

"Ciaossu."

He glanced at Reborn before turning to the woman. "Leave us alone."

She didn't seem all that disturbed to how cold he was. She only laughed slightly and left the two alone, muttering about "boys with dangerous pasts."

He wondered if she was in any way related to the girl he was thinking of.

"Hibari. You want to know about where Tsuna is, right?"

He glanced up at Reborn. "…what do you want?"

For the first time, he saw the baby _sigh_ of all things, settling into a chair. "You're close to him, and Tsuna is my student. I want to understand more about him and you should know." His eyes glinted. "Because _somehow_ you two know each other. And _somehow_ you two have met long enough you've formed such strong feelings for him."

Hibari scowled. "I'm not in the _mood_ to answer questions you could ask Tsuna yourself."

"That's the thing. Do you know how much time has passed?"

He paused, dread already settling in his gut. He hadn't asked his nurse. "…how much?"

"A day."

"What's so important about a _day_ passing?"

"Tsuna hasn't woken up yet."

He gripped the sheets, His mind filling with _Tsuna, Tsuna, Tsuna_ and the _need_ to run to him. He was hurt. God, he hadn't _actually_ defeated Mukuro, had he? Tsuna must have fought him and the idiot overdid it like _usual_ —

"At most," Reborn was going on as if he didn't notice the panic starting to swirl in Hibari. He obviously did. Hibari _knew_ he did. "Tsuna should have been unconscious for 6 hours. His wounds were the least severe of all of you. He has bruising and several cuts along his body, but nothing life threatening – it only has the chance to leave scarring. There were also severe muscle pains from his new power, but other than that, he should have been fine after a while despite going unconscious from exhaustion."

All Hibari could tell from that explanation was that it confirmed his theory.

The idiot had over-did things. Like usual. And hurt himself in the process.

"…it's nothing to worry much about." Hibari sighed. "He's…an idiot. He over-did it and now he's just sleeping a bit longer because of it."

At least, that's what he _hoped_ what was wrong.

Reborn sat in silence for a moment, like he was contemplating asking another question but thought better than to push.

"…Room 203."

Hibari was out of the room before Reborn could ask any more.

He was placed on the third floor but the stairs were easy to find and so was Tsuna's room.

And Tsuna…god _Tsuna._

He approached Tsuna's bed. He seemed to sleep soundly but he could tell by the subtle ways he was scrunching up his face and twitching - he was having a nightmare in his unconsciousness. Hibari glanced back to make sure Reborn hadn't followed him before slipping his hand into Tsuna's, something he wanted to do for a while now.

Tsuna slowly relaxed, though the dream (or memory, he had a feeling it was) still held him captive.

Hibari sighed and sat down next to the bed. He could see a scar healing on Tsuna's cheek. He knew that would possibly be permanent, and he damned Mukuro for harming his sunshine in a way that would remind the both of them how he hurt them. Scarring on Tsuna wasn't…familiar. He never had scars in their past life, since his powers let him completely heal. But in this life he would have every memory of every single fight he would be in.

What's worse…was he had failed. _He_ was supposed to be the one to defeat Mukuro yet Tsuna had somehow been saddled with the job.

He gritted his teeth. He failed Tsuna. Tsuna was unconscious because of _him_. He knew it.

Pressure on his hand made him look up. In his sleep, Tsuna had held his hand just a bit tighter.

He muttered something. It sounded like his name.

Hibari sighed, and brought Tsuna's hand to his mouth, gently apply pressure to the back of it in some form of a kiss. He was fairly sure that's the only way he was able to kiss Tsuna anyway.

He sat, watching Tsuna, and he waited.

He really hated waiting.

O~O~O

Tsuna slowly opened his eyes, feeling a strange mix of exhaustion and rest at the same time. There was a name forming on his lips but he couldn't remember what it was. He could tell he was having a dream – or, going through memories but for some reason he couldn't _remember_ it, which was frustrating as he could tell it had been awfully important.

Wait…where was he?

He blinked again and found himself looking up at a completely white ceiling. The bed beneath him were white as well as the sheets. The window was too wide and let too much sun in.

This wasn't his room.

His body still felt heavy so instead of sitting up he turned to his side.

Someone was holding his hand.

That same someone was sitting on his bedside.

His eyes focused and he was met with black hair and familiar long lashes, closed as the boy in front of him slept peacefully.

A blush grew on his cheeks as he realized who he was looking at.

"Hibari…?" He whispered in surprise. How long had he sat there? A while, it seemed, considering his fairly uncomfortable position.

How long ago had he fallen asleep? Should he…wake him up?

It seemed like he didn't need to, as soon as he had moved slightly the other boy jerked awake, and looked at him in surprise.

"Tsuna…" He sounded relieved. Tsuna couldn't help but smile.

"Hibari…how…long was I out?"

"Two days."

"Two…two _days_?!" He squeaked in surprise. The energy to sit up seemed to come to him at once. "B-But…what about Mom?! And _school_ , and—"

"Reborn took care of that."

"Oh."

He should have guessed that.

He noticed Hibari was still holding his hand. He glanced at it, but didn't bother pulling away. He didn't really want to.

"…Hibari?"

"Hm?"

"Did you…stay this whole time?"

"Yes. I didn't have much else to do." Hibari glanced away from him in thinly veiled embarrassment. Or, at least, Tsuna could see through him easily.

 _What a liar._ Tsuna thought fondly. He knew quite well that Hibari had committee duties that usually couldn't be skipped (though he was scary enough to other students and faculty members to get away with it). Yet he did so for _him_. His heart fluttered slightly at the thought.

He frowned, suddenly realizing there was quite a few things he had done for him. Including the way he had thrown himself into that fight with Mukuro…

"Hibari." He glanced up at the other boy. "…don't…do that anymore."

"Do what?"

"…what you did with Mukuro…the other day." He muttered. "You were hurt… _badly_. Yet you kept moving." He laughed bitterly. "And I thought _I_ overdo things." Memories of training until he passed out or was forced to rest was in the back of his mind.

"I needed to defeat him." He replied stubbornly.

"Just…I have _power_ now. I can _help_." He looked up at Hibari. He knew his eyes were pleading with the way Hibari glanced away. "Next time, let me help you. Especially If you're injured like that."

Hibari didn't answer.

"Please?"

He sighed. "…fine."

Tsuna smiled and couldn't help but pull Hibari in for a relieved hug. "Thank you. You're not alone, remember that, ok?"

Hibari hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close but _carefully,_ like he was afraid of breaking him. (Tsuna wanted to scoff. He wasn't some glass doll) "…ok."

They stayed like that for a moment. They had "hugged" before, but only in their sleep. Hugging each other like this was far different.

He wondered if Hibari could hear how loudly his heart was beating.

"…Tsuna."

"Yeah?"

"Can we…go somewhere, sometime?"

Tsuna pulled away slightly to look Hibari in the eyes. Hope was pounding in his chest.

"…what are you thinking of?" Tsuna asked, trying to keep his voice leveled.

"We can go out to eat something."

"Ramen?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask, almost on instinct. His heart fluttered at the amused smirk Hibari fixed him with.

"Ramen sounds good."

He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. "Ok…ramen then."

They still hadn't let go from their embrace and Tsuna quite liked it a bit more than he should have.

For now…all seemed right with the world.

* * *

 **And with this, the Kokuyo Arc is over! Next is going to be several little "Daily Life Arc" oneshots before we dive into the Varia arc. (Which I honestly can't wait for considering we'll get Tsuna seeing his dad) So the next chapter should be coming very soon!**


	14. Day to Day: Skipping

**I know you guys were probably excited to see Hibari and Tsuna go out on their date and they will soon but _not yet_. That's next chapter. This chapter I wanted to get Gokudera and Yamamoto even closer because...honestly I love these two and their pairing. So enjoy while I write the next chapter!**

 **EDIT: Someone reviewed and corrected me on Gokudera's eye color. Sorry about that confusion! At first glance when I was looking up photos I thought his eye color was silver. If there's anything else I got wrong don't hesitate to correct me!**

* * *

A little more than a week passed after the battle against Mukuro and his "gang" and Yamamoto found himself…thinking.

He would admit, he _is_ fairly dense, but he's not a _complete_ idiot. What they went through was definitely a life or death situation. He could tell just by the severity of the wounds he was told he and the others had gotten when he woke up at the hospital a whole day after the battles. They had, luckily, said his wounds weren't much to worry about and released him before the rest so he could hop right back into practice for the oncoming game, but lately, his mind hasn't been on baseball like it usually was.

How could he focus when his friends were very obviously involving themselves in some dangerous things? How could he focus when, not only are they were getting involved in dangerous things, they were _lying_ to him about it? He could tell by the way Tsuna gave him very guilty glances that he was very aware of what was going on and wanted to tell him but _something_ was holding him back.

He was so _worried._

Tsuna became a close friend of his over the last couple of months and he's had a lot to thank him for. Helping him with his self-esteem, introducing him to other people, especially Gokudera, and just hanging out with him. He couldn't remember the last time he's talked to other people outside of baseball or fans before he met his two best friends. They treated him so _differently._ He genuinely enjoyed their company, and (even if Gokudera would curse as much as he could that he didn't) they enjoyed his.

So, he was _incredibly_ worried.

Before he had left the hospital, he had decided to check on his friends. He saw Tsuna, mostly fine and sleeping, the only noticeable injury was the scar on his cheek, but Hibari was with him and he knew better than to interrupt them (he knew Hibari wouldn't hurt him unless he annoyed or provoked him somehow, but he still didn't want to risk getting "bitten to death").

Then, he found Gokudera's room.

And his heart practically _stopped_.

Gokudera lay unconscious and paler than normal, hooked up to various machines and a plethora of bandages covered his body. It took several reassurances from a kind, red haired nurse to make him believe that he would really be alright in a few days.

But _still_.

Arguably, despite meeting Tsuna first and becoming his friend first…he was closer to Gokudera.

The two of them hung out and talked when Tsuna couldn't. They both respected how he had times where he just couldn't be around other people. It was only obvious why when he witnessed his panic attacks or, at least, the start of them. It was also understandable why he was always around Hibari all the time, the two of them were very close – incredibly so.

It was obvious to anyone with _eyes_ that they're dating.

And Yamamoto had absolutely no problem with it…it's just Gokudera's reaction that bothers him, somehow.

He's close to the other boy. He's memorized the exact shade of his hair and eyes, the way he smiles and scowls, the way he laughs, most of his mannerisms and even his favorite color. So, despite not really _getting_ the whole thing with relationships and crushes himself, he could easily tell that his friend was lovesick. The way he would sometimes look into the distance and sigh, the way he would give Tsuna these wide smiles and blushes, and the way he seemed to stare in total envy whenever Hibari and Tsuna were around at the same time…

Yamamoto didn't know _why_ but every time he saw how Gokudera was so obviously in _love_ with Tsuna, it filled his chest with this… _annoyance._ He didn't get annoyed easily, yet every time he would see that wistful look in Gokudera's eyes or that goofy smile he would wonder why couldn't it be towards _him_?

Wait…

Wait, wait…no…

Why would he want Gokudera to look at him like that…?

It wasn't like he—

"Psst. Yamamoto."

He glanced up from his arms, jolted out of his thoughts. Green eyes stared back. The expression was very familiar – _pure boredom._

Yamamoto held back a small laugh. The last time he had seen that expression they found themselves deep in town, sitting in front of some convenience store while Gokudera smoked a cigarette. He probably shouldn't look back on the memory that fondly, he _still_ gets in trouble with his dad when he comes home smelling of cigarette smoke even though he's explained multiple times that it wasn't _him_ smoking.

"Yeah?" He answered, sitting up so that his elbow was on his desk and his chin rested on the palm of his hand.

"Wanna leave?"

Yamamoto stared at him in surprise. His phone was still in his hand, and light still came from it, meaning it wasn't dead. And Tsuna was here, well not _here_ – he had gone to talk to Hibari about something and hadn't come back yet. It was midday, barely even lunch yet, and they were just waiting for their teacher who was taking a little while to come back.

Besides, despite sleeping all the time in class (he stifled a yawn, he didn't want Gokudera telling him off for not getting proper sleep again) he doesn't really _skip_ class.

"Hm…you know I can't." He gave him a lazy smile, actually letting out a chuckle when the other scowled.

"Come _on_ , you're as bored as I am here! If we go now it'll be easier to sneak out without sensei noticing."

" _Why_ do you want to skip?"

"Because I'm _bored_." He huffed.

"…your phone is still on." Yamamoto pointed out. "You can play a game."

"I played all of them." He waved a hand, sticking the phone in his pocket with a fluid motion.

"What if sensei teaches something interesting today?"

"Like _that's_ going to happen." He merely answered with a roll of his eyes.

Oh no, Gokudera was definitely being stubborn about this. Time to pull out the "T" word. "…Tsuna's still here today and _he's_ not skipping." He hated the… _annoyance_ that grabbed his heart as those green eyes went distant.

"…he has that _asshole_ with him today and _they're_ practically _inseparable_." He didn't miss the way he practically growled the sentence out, or the absolute _venom_ in his eyes.

"Why with _me_?" He quickly changed the topic. He didn't really like seeing him upset.

Gokudera paused, his eyes shifted away from him. He licked his lips, and Yamamoto's eyes followed the movement.

Why did it suddenly feel warm?

"Well…today…I just wanna hang out…with you." His voice ended with a mumble. He refused to look at him and Yamamoto found it _adorable_.

"…I…guess…" oh no, he wasn't _really_ going to go along with this, was he?

Gokudera practically _beamed_ at him and he realized yes, yes, he _was_ going to go along with this.

How was he supposed to resist that face?! It was like looking at a puppy!

They both stood, grabbing their bags. They attracted some curious looks from the other students who were also chattering, but he was pretty sure the whispers and gossip started as soon as they left the classroom together. It seemed the students of Namimori were getting far more prone to gossip ever since the Mukuro Incident. Not that they ever _weren't_ , but seeing their classmates come back with injuries and the attacks suddenly stopping? Yamamoto was hardly surprised when people asked if there had been a huge gang war and if he was forced to be a part of it.

He probably should have expected it, honestly. Other students became hesitant around him as he began hanging around "delinquents." (Now, thinking of Gokudera or _Tsuna_ as anything close to a "delinquent" just felt _wrong._ Tsuna was far too kind for the textbook delinquency and Gokudera was like a big puppy with more bark than bite…most of the time) Even his team, who often tried to get him to hang out with them outside of practice, grew distant when they realized he had officially become friends with Tsuna and Gokudera.

It's not like he missed them all that much, they were nothing compared to the friendship he had with these two. Besides, it wasn't like it was interfering with his practice very much, so their couch hardly batted an eye to the sudden team-wide change in attitude towards him.

Gokudera led them through the hallways, somehow staying completely nonchalant as they headed towards the nearest exit. Yamamoto, though keeping his usual calm and cheerful demeanor, was tense underneath. They were just _out_ in the _open_. Anybody from the disciplinary committee could find them! Any _teacher_ could walk out of the classroom and see them!

"Relax." Gokudera glanced up at him, he almost seemed bored but his eyes held slight amusement. "I do this all the time, and I haven't been caught once."

"Not even _once_?" Now that he thought about it, he's never seen Gokudera dragged back to class or have detention…

"Nah. I'm too fast for them to catch." He slipped a cigarette stick out from his pocket and Yamamoto couldn't help but laugh.

"Jeez, Gokudera," he easily slipped an arm around the other boy's shoulders. He scowled but didn't protest their close proximity. Seeing that as a good sign, he leaned on him slightly, "you really had me there!"

"Don't _lean_ on me, you baseball fanatic!" He growled, pushing him away but there wasn't much force behind it. Still, Yamamoto pulled away only slightly so his weight wasn't on him as much. "You think I'm your stand?"

"Nope! I just like being close to you." His cheerful, and truthful answers always made Gokudera glare and grumble, but it was always fun to tease him, especially since it caused the cutest faint splash of pink to appear on his cheeks.

"Hey! You two!"

They both stopped, Yamamoto in tense horror and Gokudera with nonchalant annoyance. The taller of the two pulled away, turning to see a faculty member walking up to them and missing Gokudera's small snort of disappointment.

"…at least it's not a member of the disciplinary committee. Those fuckers are hard to outrun." Gokudera muttered.

"Do you have a plan to escape?"

He shrugged. Yamamoto had no clue why he thought to go along with this.

"Do you two have hall passes?" The faculty member asked harshly as soon as he was within arms-length. He hardly let them answer the question, instead he glared at Gokudera once he recognized him, scowling in disgust as he began to calmly light the cigarette in his mouth. "It's _you_. The others warned me about you!" He turned his glare at Yamamoto, who smiled back. Usually his smiles caused people confusion and discomfort when faced with situations like this (his dad seemed to be the only one immune from that) but it only made the man's glare deepen.

So, he was one of _those_ teachers.

"And _you_ , you're Yamamoto Takeshi, aren't you? You have a promising path in baseball ahead of you, yet you let filth like _this_ drag you around?"

Gokudera looked bored. Yamamoto was boiling with rage.

"I can hang out with whoever I _want,_ thanks." He replied coldly, nearly smirking at the teacher's surprised expression. "And Gokudera is far better a person than you could ever even manage to realize."

 _That_ caused a look of absolute bewilderment from those green eyes, and red-faced anger from the teacher.

"Detention! Both of you!" He spat.

"You'll have to catch us first!" Gokudera grinned, and grabbed his friend's wrist before bolting down the hallway. The yells of the teacher faded into the distance, and they were outside the school in record time.

But they didn't stop there. Despite being so far from the teacher, they made sure the gates of the school were well behind them before they finally stopped to rest.

"We're…going to be…in _so much trouble_ when we go to school tomorrow." Yamamoto muttered leaning against a wall.

"Then why are you smiling?" Gokudera asked with a grin, the same grin from earlier.

He just laughed. He was _always_ smiling, but he got his point. With a jolt, he realized he could still feel a familiar warmth surrounding his wrist. He glanced down – Gokudera was still holding it, and seemed blissfully unaware of the fact.

"Gokudera?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still holding my hand." He pointed down to their joined appendages cheekily, finding a strange flutter in his stomach with the way Gokudera's face flushed and he pulled away as if burned.

"I-I wasn't holding your hand, idiot!" He turned around, so obviously flustered Yamamoto couldn't help but slide back over to put an arm around his shoulders again. He didn't seem to be that mad since he didn't make a move to push him away.

"So…we're _bad delinquents_ who just skipped _half a day_ of school! Where should we go?"

The comment earned him a roll of the eyes matched with a fond smile. He turned to him, his eyes began to fill with pure excitement.

"Well, we could go walk around the shopping district and look around, we could even head to the arcade for a bit and I can show you this cool new game—"

A loud growl interrupted him, and he blushed as it was matched with another growl. Both, being from their stomachs.

It was a terrible time to remember they had left their lunch boxes in Tsuna's bag.

"I have money." Yamamoto immediately offered. "We can buy food before we go to the arcade."

Gokudera wrinkled his nose. "You don't have to spend money on me—"

"It's fine! You can pay me back later!" He knew Gokudera easily burned through his money and pocket change, and he would rather not watch his friend starve to death because he was being stubborn.

Gokudera shrugged. "Whatever." He grumbled.

He _still_ hadn't pushed him away. So, Yamamoto knew he still wasn't as angry as he was trying to let on.

The walk to the shopping district felt too fast with how much he was honestly enjoying chatting with the other boy. They got some judgmental looks for their close proximity but people were far too afraid to make a comment from the way Gokudera would glare matched with his overall aura of a pure delinquent. Besides, the incidents with Mukuro, chalked up to gang wars between Namimori and another school, was still fresh in the minds of nearly everyone in town. The stigma around Namimori would probably stay for a while.

It seemed pretty silly (the only one in the school to really be feared was Hibari), but they were understandable fears.

Gokudera led him into one of the stores and down a food aisle, barely giving Yamamoto time to smile, wave, and greet the nice-looking girl behind the cashier. They both found something in Yamamoto's allowance budget, which was surprisingly enough to get them both something that wouldn't be a snack or something they had to share.

"Fuck, I should try actually saving money more often." Yamamoto was too busy laughing to tell him he shouldn't curse so loudly in front of the cashier, who seemed terrified of his presence.

"Maybe you should." He managed to say through snickers before he walked up to the cashier, setting down the food and drinks with a smile. Strangely his friendly air didn't seem to ease her fear, as she kept glancing behind—

Oh, right. People find Gokudera scary. It was hard to remember that sometimes.

"Don't worry about him, he's like a puppy, he won't hurt you." He waved a hand, chuckling at her suspicious glance and Gokudera's loud, flustered protests at being called a _puppy_ while he dug back into his pockets for the money.

The transaction slow and painful, with Yamamoto having to keep Gokudera calm while he was practically glaring the poor cashier down. She fumbled and practically dropped their items as she tried to scan them, and miss counted the money. Yamamoto just calmly encouraged her, telling her to take her time, while Gokudera practically growled that she should "hurry the fuck up." When they finally left the store, and found a bench to sit on, he turned to his friend who was already opening the packaging around his food.

"You practically gave that cashier a heart attack, you know. Why were you glaring at her?"

He scowled, scrunching up his nose in that cute way when he didn't necessarily like someone. "She just…gave me a _bad feeling,_ that's all. She reminded me of those stupid girls from school who drool all over some popular guy."

Odd reason…but Yamamoto shrugged and just dug into his own meal. Gokudera never really cared about his "fan club" at school – he mostly ignored them. So why would some girl bother him now?

They ate quickly, well, more like _Gokudera_ ate quickly and then pestered Yamamoto to "hurry up before the arcade closes." (knowing fully that the arcade doesn't close until well after eight at night on weekdays) Yamamoto just laughed him off, though he did eat a little faster.

The arcade was one of the bigger buildings, the lights in the front were usually more exciting to look at during nightfall. Inside was dimly lit, with the flashes of the various games making up most of the light. Since it was still school hours, it was fairly empty, but the employees didn't look twice at them.

"You know, you need money to play the games." Yamamoto pointed out cheekily as Gokudera approached one of the machines. He rolled his eyes, fishing through his pockets.

"I _do_ have change you know." He huffed, putting a coin in the machine. It lit up energetically, and Gokudera turned to him with a wide smile, the lights of the game reflected off his face and hair. "Watch, I've gotten pretty good at this game."

Yamamoto stared.

He wasn't afraid to admit, wasn't paying attention at the game at all. Maybe he should, he knew his friend would probably yell at him and pout when he realizes he wasn't. _But_ it was _very_ hard to focus with the way the lights reflected off of Gokudera's hair, the way his green eyes were so focused and his wide smile.

Strange, why did he want to move closer to him?

"Look!"

Gokudera's sudden exclamation pulled him out of his strange thoughts, and he glanced at the screen which blared "HIGH SCORE."

"See? I told you I'm good at this game."

He smiled back. "Yeah, you are!"

"Wanna try?" He asked, fishing out more coins from his pockets.

"I'm not as much of a gamer as you." He would much rather watch Gokudera play, not because he was _staring_ at him...but he just _enjoyed_ watching him.

"We're at an _arcade_ you should play at least _one_ damn game."

"But—"

"Just _once._ " He was pulled in front of the machine and Gokudera popped in the change.

Well, he didn't have much of a choice now, did he?

He was extremely hyper aware of how close Gokudera was, and every time he grabbed his arm whenever he made a wrong move. With how distracted he was, it wasn't a surprise when the GAME OVER screen appeared fairly quickly.

He turned to Gokudera, very sure he was about to get teased but he was staring down at his phone, obviously texting someone. He glanced over his shoulder and saw "Tenth" at the top of the screen, matched with a couple of cute emoji. Yamamoto was unsure whether he should feel _annoyance_ or gush over how adorable it was that he actually uses emoji in his contacts.

"Does Tsuna need something?" The question made Gokudera look up in surprise.

"Uh, no, he was just wondering where we are, since lunch passed." He sighed in that _lovesick_ way that made Yamamoto's stomach churn. "Tenth is so thoughtful, isn't he? Worrying about us."

Yamamoto merely hummed in answer, easily hiding his annoyance behind a smile. "Should we head back?"

"Nah." The scowl was back. "He said he's going to be hanging out with _Hibari_ today since we skipped." Those green eyes looked downcast and filled with sudden regret and envy. Yamamoto couldn't help the anger that went through him, but he easily squashed it. There was no reason to get riled up when it was obvious Gokudera just wanted to hang out with his crush. He had said he wanted to hang out with _him_ , but it didn't really _mean anything_.

"…alright, what should we do next? I bet there's way more games I can watch you play."

He raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought _you_ , the goody-two shoes you are, would force us to go back."

He laughed. "Not really! And I have until the end of the school day until I need to get back home, so…"

"Oh, right. You actually have a _curfew_."

"You don't?" He followed him to another game, where he popped in more change.

"Of course I fucking don't. You'd need an adult at home to enforce it." He grumbled as he began shooting zombies on the screen.

"You have-oh." Now that he thought about it, the only adult he's ever seen Gokudera interact with was his older sister, and he was _terrified_ of her. Or, at least, Yamamoto had no clue what to call "fainting and getting sick on sight." Besides that, he never mentioned his parents despite moving here from Italy.

"Oh, don't give me that look." His nose was flicked, bewildering him from his thoughts. Gokudera's eyes seemed bored but there was an unreadable emotion behind it. He turned away from him, back to the game as he was expertly shooting down the zombies as if he's actually used a gun before. For a moment, Yamamoto had the strangest feeling that he _has_. "I can take care of myself. It's not like I _need_ an adult around. What have _adults_ ever done for _me_ anyway?" He mumbled the last sentence, the emotion behind it made Yamamoto's heart clench. The expression was dropped as he glanced away from the screen to him, his expression was playful. "Don't tell me you're worried."

"Yeah I am. No one deserves to be alone at home." He answered truthfully, and enjoyed the flush on his cheeks before he focused solely on the game.

They stayed in the arcade for a couple more hours, trying to stay away from topics like Gokudera's home life. When his change inevitably ran out, they merely walked around for a little while until one of the braver of the employees realized they weren't playing any games and kicked them out.

"Stupid fucking…" Gokudera grumbled, throwing a glare behind his back as the employee huffed and turned back inside.

Yamamoto laughed and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, we should be heading home anyway."

He shrugged. "I guess." He stopped in his tracks, a _thinking_ frown on his face.

"Something wrong?" Yamamoto, who had walked a bit past him, stopped as well to turn to the other boy.

"…did you enjoy yourself today?" He suddenly asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Yamamoto blinked. "What?"

"I mean, you kinda just spent today following me around. I thought by skipping you could _relax_ a little and get your mind off all that shit that's worrying you, whatever the fuck it is."

Oh. _Oh_. He must have noticed how he was starting to worry about them after the Mukuro Incident. Strange, he thought he was doing well bottling it up.

For a moment, he thought about telling him he knew this all wasn't a game or an act anymore, but he had a feeling that would end badly. He already had a feeling they had gone to such lengths to keep the truth from him for his own protection…and it would probably be better for them to tell him themselves, when they're ready.

So, he did what he normally does. He smiled.

"I was just thinking about my baseball game, it's coming in a few weeks you know! And, I had a _lot_ of fun! You know I love hanging out with you!" He took a step closer to him and slipped an arm around his shoulders for the third time that day. "Besides, it was almost like a date, wasn't it?"

It meant to be a tease but there was an obvious _pause_ between them. They stared at each other for a moment. Gokudera's whole face was red, and Yamamoto was starting to feel pretty warm as well.

At that moment, he realized that imagining going on a _date_ with Gokudera didn't sound all that terrible of an idea.

At that moment, he craved feeling their lips against each other.

And at that moment…he realized what he felt for him.

"Oh." He muttered aloud in blatant realization.

Gokudera pulled away from the half-embrace for the first time that day, face still flushed. "Y-You're so _weird_ baseball freak."

"Guess I am." He muttered back.

They walked down the sidewalks in silence before going their separate ways, and despite Yamamoto wishing that on his mind was baseball like it used to be, it was instead filled with fantasies of kissing the boy with silver hair and green eyes, and loving that same boy who will definitively never love him back.

He was _screwed_.


	15. Day to Day: A Date

**I'm sorry this chapter is a bit late, but I wanted to make sure it was perfect (and I fell asleep before I could upload it yesterday. Whoops.) I'm sure you guys will love this chapter (especially since I'm sure it's what most of you are waiting for). So enjoy!**

* * *

Tsuna's room, currently, was a mess.

Not that his room being messy was something _unusual._ No, his room was usually in a disarray (the only time he really cleans it now is when it gets to the point that Reborn is annoyed with it. Even then he completely half-asses it until the baby would point a gun at him and threaten him to get it to practically sparkle). Usually, the mess was because of dirty clothes and empty cans of soda. This time, it was because of the _clean_ clothes Tsuna had strewn around, trying to match his shirts and pants to try and come up with a good outfit.

Because he was meeting Hibari for a date.

 _Wait, no_ , it's not _exactly_ a date! It's…them…hanging out. Since they usually just hang out in Tsuna's room and it's good to hang out other places!

…

…yeah that's a bad excuse.

Tsuna sighed to himself as he put down one of his shirts. He had basically taken out half his closet in an effort to find the right outfit (there was no way he was touching the other half, that was his more _personal preference_ collection of clothes) but why should he care so much about what he wears? Hibari has seen him in _pajamas_ before! Sure, he was covered by blankets, but…

He grimaced. Why was he worrying so much? Hibari wasn't one to really _care_ about how he looked or how he dressed. But here he was, worrying like he's never gone out with Hibari alone before. Well, this was _different_ , wasn't it? Hibari actually had something _planned_ and this was after…everything that happened with Mukuro. They _all_ needed a break after all that stress.

Tsuna let out a suffering sigh and glanced at the time. He still had an hour before Hibari ended up at his door – or window. He bit his lip, holding back laughter at the thought of Hibari coming to pick him up for their date through the window. It _was_ the entrance and exit he seemed to prefer. For a moment, he let himself daydream, imagining what it would be like if Hibari came to his window and carried him down so they could go on their date-

Not that this was a date!

The sound of the door knocking made him yelp and jump (was he easier to startle since Mukuro? He wasn't sure) – he glanced to the door and then to his mess of clothes. He prayed to whatever gods watching that whoever was at the door wasn't his mother. She'd probably _faint_ at the sight of his room.

"Er…come in?"

The door opened, and to his surprise it was actually Bianchi. "Tsuna, your mom—" She paused, staring at the clothes that surrounded him. He could feel himself break out in a cold sweat as her entire _aura_ seemed to scream _judgement_.

"Tsuna." She let out a breath. "…what are you doing?"

"Um…getting ready."

"For?"

"…Hibari and I are going out – for lunch!" He quickly added, seeing the mischievous smirk that grew on her face. "He's taking me out to eat ramen!"

"Ramen?" She hummed, somehow gracefully stepping over his clothes and pushing more clothes to the side to sit on his bed. "That doesn't sound like the _best_ date food," he was suddenly overcome with the want to defend ramen as the best meal ever, no matter _what_ the occasion, but he quickly pushed that down. _Tsuna_ didn't love ramen to the end of time (though he will admit, it was something he _could_ have all the time if no one stopped him) and it would be odd if he suddenly acted like he loved it. Bianchi waved a hand, "You're both what, fourteen? Fifteen? You two _hardly_ know what a _real_ date should be like."

He wrinkled his nose, hating that she was right. He's never been on a real date, in this life or the last (maybe he has and he doesn't remember?). "So…what do _you_ think a real date is like? N-Not that this is a _date_."

She hummed, then chuckled. "Oh, nothing a fourteen-year-old should be doing – yet."

" _What_?"

She waved her hand again. "It's _nothing_. Now, I see you need help getting an outfit together?"

"…please?"

"Well…listen, the best thing is to go out in an outfit you're comfortable in and you actually like. And, let me guess, your mom picked out all of these clothes for you, right?"

His blush gave him away. He loved his mom, but without his input she buys him a lot of clothes that are semi-formal – button up shirts and things like that.

" _And_ by your…other clothes, it seems you like…different things."

Horror grew in his chest at the pleased smirk on her face. "Y-You saw the other side of my closet?"

She raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing to be _embarrassed_ about, Tsuna. So, what if you like wearing cute clothes—"

"I'd get made fun of if I went out in those!" He practically whined. The _other_ side of his closet were mostly clothes he had gotten on a whim when he goes out with his mother on shopping trips. He blamed the fashion sense of his past life, who obviously hardly cared what he wore since he was used to people hating him anyway. Tsuna would rather _avoid_ attracting stares, so these were clothes he wore on his own, in his room, when he was sure he was going to be alone for the day.

"So, what? They're cute and they suite you." She stood, taking a few strides to his closet and opened the other side, revealing an abundance of things such as large sweaters, baggy tank tops and crop tops, shirts with varieties of cute designs (some of lions, and some of foxes – they made him nostalgic for whatever reason) some shorts and even _skirts_ (he blamed both himself and his mom, who was more than happy to get it for him).

"You think _these_ ," he pointed to the skirts and shorts, "suite me?"

She shrugged. "They're just clothes." She dug into his closet, pulling out some jeans. "You need to dress warm, it's a little chilly out today."

He grimaced. He knew Bianchi won't take "no" for an answer. With a sigh, he sat back and let her fuss over the clothes. It wouldn't _hurt_ to let her put his outfit together, right?

But then she pulled out a skirt, looking over it and then at him.

Oh god, he's _screwed._

O~O~O

Hibari grimaced as he looked himself over in his mirror once again. He was wearing a simple dark blue shirt with a black jacket and jeans. Perhaps not the best outfit for going on a date, but how was he supposed to know?

Well, he just hoped that Tsuna saw this as a date as much as he did.

He sighed and slipped his tonfa in his sleeves, mostly as extra protection. He was always ready for a fight, but now he was mostly just paranoid. Tsuna had a knack for attracting trouble, always has been – it's been proven in both of their lives. Mukuro was going to be the _least_ of their worries, he could just tell. Who's to say they weren't going to be attacked today? Even if it wasn't by an enemy, Rebornwasn't exactly one for "rational" training exercises _._

He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. The present he planned to give Tsuna, if things went well, felt heavy in his pocket. He could vaguely remember an accessory the boy had begun to wear in their past life. He was pretty sure he wouldn't mind wearing it again now.

With a deep breath, he glanced outside his room door – the TV was still blasting and his mother was in the room, already drinking even though it was only after noon. He closed his door and locked it, before heading to his window. It was the only thing he kept unlocked on days like this. Besides, he hardly had anything that someone would want to steal.

He slipped out of his room and began to walk to Tsuna's house, opening the gate with familiarity and glancing up at his window. He could see movement inside and the flash of brown hair. More out of habit than anything else, he easily climbed up the tree next to his house, hanged onto the window and knocked.

There was a yelp inside – he chuckled softly at the familiar sound, but blinked as a woman opened the window, raising an eyebrow at him. She was familiar…wasn't she one of the ones who went with Tsuna to go fight Mukuro? Despite her living with Tsuna, as it seemed, he never really caught her name. He gave her an annoyed scowl. She only seemed amused.

"You know, this isn't the _best_ way to pick up someone for a date." She was almost laughing. He narrowed his eyes.

"Where's Tsuna?"

"Be patient. You can be patient in the name of love, can't you?"

His eyes must have said it all, because she laughed.

"Meet him at the _door_ like a _gentleman_ and you'll see him. He got all dressed up for you after all."

He huffed and hardly answered her, merely jumping down and landing on the grass below. He glanced up to see brown eyes looking down at him, for a split second, before they disappeared inside.

Well, he was blocked from the window, so it seemed he really was going to have to knock on the door.

He grimaced as he went as slow as possible to the door. He was no stranger to the _noise_ of the _kids_ Tsuna had somehow adopted while he wasn't around. He was never one to tolerate children for too long, especially younger ones. Most of them were usually afraid of him. The kids who were staying with Tsuna were no different. The last time he had come over, the one who dressed like a cow cowered behind Tsuna's legs when Tsuna's mother had made him stay for dinner. The other one had mostly just stared at him and refused to get too close, most of the time she couldn't even stay in the same room as him – for some reason Tsuna had found it funny.

All too soon he found himself in front of the door and he could already hear the _noise_ of the kids inside. With a grimace, he knocked.

Almost immediately the door opened, and he was met with familiar brown eyes matched with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey…sorry about Bianchi, she gets…serious about…things."

He merely hummed in answer, instead glancing down at his outfit. It wasn't the usual simple shirt matched with a pair of jeans – instead he had on a light orange sweater with a cartoon fox on the front which was big enough that it seemed to be slipping off his shoulder slightly but he had on a light blue undershirt, matched with black skinny jeans and sneakers. He couldn't help but stare at the fox, a part of his mind was telling him that it was quite ironically fitting. He glanced at his bare shoulder, and held back a wince as he noticed the thin scars from his fight with Mukuro littering his skin. He was sure there were more, but he hasn't exactly seen Tsuna shirtless.

"Hibari?"

He glanced back up at his sunshine – he seemed so embarrassed it was adorable. He was fidgeting slightly.

"Do I look…weird?"

"No." He answered honestly, ignoring how the nosy kids behind Tsuna were obviously eavesdropping behind him, trying to hide behind a doorway. "…the orange suites you." He added, trying not to physically melt at the smile the other boy gave him.

"Thanks! Um…give me a second?" He barely finished nodding when Tsuna turned inside, the children hid themselves quickly. "Mom! I'm heading out with Hibari!"

"Ok! Have fun!" The overly friendly voice of his mom came from somewhere in the house. Hibari bit back the sudden overwhelming jealousy at the luck he has, having a mother who seemed so nice and caring (despite her questionable attitude towards Tsuna half the time, it was far better than his situation).

Tsuna closed the door behind him, giving him a smile that made him momentarily forget exactly what he was thinking about earlier.

"So, um…which ramen shop are we going to?"

O~O~O

Tsuna thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest with how fast it was beating – and he and Hibari hasn't even done anything yet!

Not that he was _hoping_ for… _something_ to happen – this wasn't a _date_ and no matter what Bianchi said there was no way he was _hoping_ that Hibari was treating this as such…

But no matter how much he tried to stay in denial, he had to admit it did _feel_ like what he expected a date to be like. The two of them, alone, wearing clothes different from usual and going to a place they don't go to every day. Isn't that usually what dates are like?

 _Maybe there's more talking._ Tsuna figured, as he tried not to stare at Hibari who had barely spoken through their walk. But that was normal, Hibari didn't talk very often, he was more of a listener. And, currently, Tsuna was too nervous to find anything to ramble about. _Maybe there's more hand holding_. He glanced at Hibari's hand, only to find his whole face heat up – they've _hugged_ , but the thought of just randomly holding his hand sent him spiraling in embarrassment.

"Tsuna."

He glanced up – Hibari seemed both curious and amused. "Y-Yeah?" He almost groaned in embarrassment at how his voice came out as a squeak.

"Why are you blushing?"

"Just…thought…of something."

"Of what?"

He quickly shook his head, covering his face with his hands so maybe Hibari wouldn't ask any more. He could hear the taller boy chuckle softly. Could this be any more embarrassing? He was exactly 98% sure Hibari must be making fun of him in his mind for _getting like this_ when this probably wasn't even a date!

" _Tsuna_."

He looked up at Hibari between his fingers. "Yeah?"

"We're not doing anything that different you know."

"You've never taken me out to eat before." Tsuna pointed out. "We always stay in my room and we usually eat at my house with the kids!"

Hibari grimaced, and Tsuna stifled a laugh at how he obviously did not want to think about the annoying, but cute, kids that seemed to have adopted Tsuna and his mother. Though he had to admit, having two kids, Reborn, and Bianchi always around causing chaos it did get extremely hectic after a while, but he couldn't help but grow a bit fond of the noise in his house. Hibari though, who seemed to hate crowds of people with a passion, could hardly stay for the entirety of dinner most days. Tsuna never pushed (he already had a feeling that it had something to do with their past) and since Tsuna didn't push, others didn't push either.

"Why do you let them stay over your house?" Hibari muttered, the grimace still prominent on his face.

Tsuna hummed before shrugging. "They never really left and I didn't feel like telling them to leave…" Not to mention, the feeling of loneliness from his past always seemed to stab him at the most random moments. It was probably selfish, but having his house filled with people at all times helped somewhat. It was…grounding. Something to remind him that he's not sitting, curled up in a small apartment, completely alone and only surrounded by the hatred of people around him. Well, of course there were people who _disliked_ him, but not to the extent of back then…

His heart was starting to feel heavy with the depressing memories, and he noticed Hibari frown slightly.

"Thinking about something?"

"Remembering, more like." He muttered back, bitterly. "Nothing to worry about!" He added quickly, seeing the familiar expression of worry on Hibari's face. "It wasn't a flashback I just…remembered." He winced as his own terrible explanation.

"…you really need ramen." Hibari muttered. "Ramen always made you feel better…back then."

Tsuna couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I haven't had ramen in _ages_." His mom always preferred to home-cook all their meals, considering she's home at all times anyway. And, sadly, ramen wasn't one of her main dishes. He gave Hibari a wide smile. "So? Let's go! You know the way, don't you?"

"Just keep up. I won't slow down for your legs." Without another word, he started speed walking down the street.

Tsuna blinked.

And he blinked again.

Then it clicked.

"Did you just call me _short_?!"

After getting thoroughly offended at the admittedly true statement and another few minutes of walking on non-crowded roads, they finally got to a quaint stand, where a woman was happily humming as she worked over the soup she was making. Hibari easily slipped into one of the chairs with a certain familiarity that was surprising. Tsuna quickly went to sit down as well.

The woman looked up and smiled. "Hey Hibari, I haven't seen you for a while. Who's your friend?" She turned to him – and Tsuna let out a small strangled sound at the _familiarity_ of her face, of her short brown hair and her kind smile.

" _Back again, hun?" The ramen shopkeeper's daughter asked kindly as he slipped inside, shivering slightly from the cold though the warmth from inside was slowly thawing him. She beckoned him over. "Miso, like usual?" When he began to fish in his pockets for some change, she laughed and waved a hand, "Don't worry, it's on the house! Dad won't mind, you're our best customer after all." She winked, and laughed again as he started to thank her over and over._

Tsuna blinked a few times, trying to keep down the sudden wave of sad fondness he gained from the memory. After a moment, he realized Hibari and the woman were staring at him expectantly, and he flushed as he realized the flashback caused him to miss whatever they had asked him.

"Um…what?"

"She wants to know what kind of ramen you want."

"Oh." He looked down – he had completely embarrassed himself in front of someone who obviously knew Hibari! Why does he have to ruin everything? "Um…" the memory, still fresh, flashed behind his eyes. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "…miso, please?" He congratulated himself for his voice not cracking.

"Two miso coming right up!" She smiled and headed back to her pot. Tsuna sighed in relief though Hibari was looking at him with a frown.

"You had a flashback?" He asked, lowering his voice so the woman wouldn't hear him.

He nodded, "It wasn't bad, she just…reminded me of someone."

"Do you want to go?"

"I'm fine." He insisted, "Did she give her name, by the way?"

He nodded. "Her last name is Maki."

"So, Maki," Tsuna turned to the woman before Hibari could _insist_ they go. He really needed to get it in Hibari's head that despite still not being a _fighter_ he isn't made of _glass_. "How do you and Hibari know each other?"

She hummed. "We go back a bit. The kid would come to me after school when he needed food. Then he'd go wander off somewhere." She rolled her eyes. "And it's not like _I_ could stop him. Have you seen him fight? Scary stuff."

Tsuna couldn't help but laugh as Hibari scowled. That sure _sounded_ like Hibari. It seems even as a child he wasn't much different from how he is now.

"Why'd you come here?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask, turning to the boy next to him. "For food, I mean. I didn't take you as the ramen type."

He hummed and looked away. "…it reminded me of you."

"…oh." What was he supposed to say to that? So, he just blushed and ducked his head. He could hear Maki snickering in front of them, muttering about someone "having it bad."

…at this point, it was getting pretty obvious what his feelings are for Hibari.

And it's obvious that he's _terrible_ at hiding it.

"Alright you two lovebirds," she seemed to pointedly ignore the small yelp of embarrassed surprise from Tsuna as well as the small grunt of protest from Hibari and she placed two bowls of miso ramen in front of them, "eat up!"

"Thanks…" Could the embarrassment get any worse?

At the first taste of noodles, he sniffled. Flashes of sitting in that old village of his, smiling and laughing with the ramen shopkeeper and his daughter…

"Tsuna? Are you ok?"

He jolted up and gave Hibari a small smile. "I'm fine...just…this ramen is really good. Thanks for taking me here."

He snorted, looking away though Tsuna noticed a splash of red on his cheeks. "You're acting like I'm a lifesaver because I fed you _ramen_."

"Well you _are_." He replied teasingly, laughing at the look Hibari gave him. "I told you I haven't had ramen in forever!"

"How long?"

"Hm…few years?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised I didn't find you dead from ramen starvation."

"It's been hard." He said with a dramatic sigh. "I hardly know how I lived before I met you." He added honestly, knowing for a fact that he was sure he would have been majorly lost if he had to deal with these flashbacks without him, or any of these situations that were starting up because of the whole mafia thing. (Would he have won against Mukuro if Hibari hadn't fought him first? Tsuna had a feeling the answer was no.)

He snorted and looked back to his bowl. Tsuna wondered if it was the warm steam from the soup that caused the redness on both of their faces.

O~O~O

Hibari was honestly surprised at how well this date was going. At least, as long as _Tsuna_ thought this was a date. By the amount of red that was on his face a majority of the time, he had a feeling he did, and that was a huge relief.

Their conversation over the ramen was pretty much all over the place, and a bit awkward as the two of them were unsure how to act. Besides, the lingering question of "is this really a date?" was in the air. Hibari had lost count of how many times he's glanced at Tsuna whenever he wasn't looking (he tried to ignore any guilt in his chest when he caught eye of the scar on Tsuna's cheek, which stopped just below his ear, a constant reminder that he hadn't completely protected him from Mukuro)– his eyes would especially find themselves staring at his hand whenever he rested it on the table.

It was strange; there are plenty of times he has comfortably laid his head on Tsuna's lap or leaned on him or hugged him in his sleep but _this_ was causing him to falter in closing the distance between them even somewhat.

All too soon, they noticed the sun starting to set, signaling it was nearing Tsuna's curfew. Tsuna, noting the time, began fishing in his pockets.

"How much was this, Maki? I think my allowance can cover it—"

"No." Hibari immediately said. "I'll pay for it." It had taken him a while to fish enough change out from around the house to get enough for two bowls of ramen, and there was no _way_ he was letting Tsuna pay.

"But I _want_ to pay for it." Tsuna gave him a familiar stubborn look. He sighed.

"If you two are done…" Maki gave them a look like she was silently laughing at them. "I wasn't going to charge you two."

"You…wait _what_?"

Hibari narrowed his eyes. "I refuse to owe you anything."

She rolled her eyes. "You won't be _owing me_. This is on the house." She chuckled. "I'm not allowed to give a favor to such a cute couple like you two?"

He huffed and grabbed Tsuna's hand, who seemed to busy sputtering in embarrassment at the "cute couple" comment to care at the moment. "We're going." Anything to avoid further embarrassment. Maybe it was a bad idea to come to _this_ place to ramen, though it was one of the only places he knew of that wouldn't have a crowd.

He began to pull Tsuna away in the direction of his home. He actually liked Tsuna's mother (she was odd and a bit oblivious, but her heart seemed to be in the right place when it came to Tsuna's wellbeing) and he would rather she didn't associate him with "a boy who kept her son out past curfew.

"Um…Hibari?"

He glanced back at Tsuna, though it was getting dark he could see the faint red on his cheeks.

"…yeah?"

"You're…holding my hand."

He let out a small grunt and looked away. "…I know."

Tsuna didn't say anything, and he didn't glance back to see his expression, but the soft squeeze was all he really needed.

They walked for a little bit, and Hibari couldn't help but start to stare at the boy he was currently holding hands with. He was bunching in on himself a bit as the night grew colder, his brown eyes were bright, and there was a soft smile on his face.

Hibari's heart was beating so loud he wondered if the other boy could hear it, but it seemed he was oblivious enough that he wasn't able to.

There was a certain calm to the air, a certain calm and understanding that caused Hibari to open his mouth.

"Tsuna…do you know why I slip into your room at night?"

"…no?" He glanced up at him. He was too trusting, Hibari wanted to scream at him that he _shouldn't_. That he's going to _get hurt_ one of these days from trusting so much. He was sure there was a time in the _past_ where he got hurt trusting too much.

"…did you ever wonder the reason?"

He shrugged. The blush on his cheeks were back. "…I thought if I asked, you would stop coming." He refused to look at him, instead it seemed the sidewalk was far more interesting. "That's…selfish of me, isn't it?"

This boy was going to kill him one day.

"…no not really. I wouldn't have left."

A beat passed.

"…I get nightmares." He finally admitted, out loud. It was odd – he wasn't an herbivore. Only _herbivores_ were afraid of things and he is _never_ afraid. But somehow, he was able to admit this one little weakness to Tsuna (ignoring the fact that his other weakness has to do with Sakura blossoms).

"Hibari…" He squeezed his hand. "Does it have to do with…you know…?"

"The past? Yes." He sighed. "It was the day I lost my whole clan."

"The Massacre." His voice was a whisper. It seemed he at least vaguely remembered it. "Hibari, you don't have to—"

"I hate crowds because it reminds me of the massacre. It makes me nervous and think that a crowd of people is going to get killed." He interrupted bluntly, looking straight ahead and almost in a daze as he admitted all of this for the first time. "In the nightmare I re-live the night, and I'm comforted by being near you. That's why I sneak into your room sometimes."

"…more like every other night." Tsuna frowned. "Hibari, are you _sure_ you're ok? This sounds worse than my flashbacks!"

He rolled his eyes. This was pretty much one nightmare – the other gruesome things he handled easily. Tsuna though…couldn't. "I'm fine."

"That's what I say."

"You're getting better at admitting when you aren't."

There was silence. Tsuna sighed.

"…I don't like seeing you in pain." He almost didn't hear him, he was speaking so softly. With a small step, he was suddenly closer, practically leaning on his side. A bit awkwardly, but the contact wasn't unwanted.

Hibari didn't know how to react. He was sure he would endure all the pain in the world if it was for the sunshine standing next to him.

But he also knew Tsuna wouldn't hesitate to stand in the cross-fire.

They spent the majority of their walk to Tsuna's in silence, though it was a calm silence, in which they spent their time extremely close to each other, practically leaning on each other while their hands were entwined.

Finally, they had crossed the gate in front of Tsuna's house, and Tsuna turned to him.

"So, um…see you tomorrow?"

"…yeah."

He began to turn to go open the door, but a quick squeeze from Hibari's hand stopped him. Tsuna glanced back at him.

"Need something?"

Hibari slipped his hand into his pocket – the necklace, to his relief, was still there.

"I wanted to give you something."

He pulled out the necklace and dangled it in front of Tsuna's face, finding satisfaction in the way Tsuna's expression turned from surprised to amazed and touched.

"H-Hibari…this is beautiful…"

The necklace was fairly simple – a light blue stone that was shaped almost like a crystal, wrapped tight with a golden string. Hibari had tested it many times to make sure the knot was tight and it wouldn't unravel any time soon.

"…are you going to wear it or stare at it?"

Tsuna flushed and quickly took it, slipping it over his head. The string was just a bit too long, but it rested comfortably, almost familiarly, on his chest.

It really did suite him.

"This is so beautiful…and I don't have anything to give you." Tsuna muttered, placing a hand on the stone.

Hibari shook his head. Of course he felt like he had to give him something in return… "I don't need anything."

The other boy was silent. He bit his lip, before suddenly stepping closer. He looked up, there was a strange courage and determination in his eyes.

"Tsuna…?"

"…I…feel like if I do this I'll be getting two presents but…" Tsuna muttered before grabbing his jacket with the hand not still holding his. Before Hibari could ask what he was doing, Tsuna pulled him down.

And suddenly, hesitant, awkward lips were on his own.

Hibari froze – almost completely paralyzed in pure shock. His heart was beating rapidly, he was sure it was going to burst from his body.

Tsuna pulled away all too soon. He refused to look at him but Hibari was still in shock, completely speechless.

"Um…I'll see you tomorrow!" His hand slipped out of his, and he watched as Tsuna opened the door and disappeared into the house.

"…see you." Hibari muttered, turning away and putting two fingers to his lips. They tingled slightly; the feeling of Tsuna's lips against his lingered.

Well…he was in deep, wasn't he?

O~O~O

Tsuna slammed the door behind him, resting his back on it, his face was practically a tomato.

Did he…really just _do that_?

"Oh, Tsuna, you're back!" His mother poked her head out from the kitchen. "How was – are you alright? You're completely red!"

"I'm going to my room!" He quickly blurted out, running up the stairs. There was no _way_ he was telling his _mom_ he had just _kissed_ Hibari. From below, he could hear Bianchi's soft laughter and words of reassurance to his mother that everything was fine.

How was everything fine when he just _messed up?_

He closed his room door behind him – Reborn wasn't inside, thank _god_ , and he flopped on his bed, grabbed his pillow and screamed into it.

He kissed Hibari.

He _kissed_ Hibari.

 _What the hell was he thinking?!_

He groaned and hugged the pillow. He was hyperaware of how his lips had a pleasant tingle to them and how the string of his new necklace tickled slightly on the back of his neck. When he closed his eyes, he could still remember how the fabric of Hibari's jacket felt and the feeling of his soft lips…

With a sigh, he buried his face in his pillow.

Was it selfish of him that he wanted to kiss Hibari again?


	16. Day to Day: Training and Rain

Tsuna decided, a full day after _the kiss,_ that he would avoid Hibari.

It wasn't a decision he made _immediately_. More like, after a night of lying awake in embarrassment and worry he decided the best option was to avoid the other boy until further notice. The "notice" being when he can find an excuse for _why_ he kissed him without mentioning he has a crush on him.

Right. Like that could work.

With a sigh, he sat in his room, staring at the wall while rubbing the stone of his new necklace between his fingers. He needed a distraction – a big one. Something that won't make him have to think about how angry or annoyed Hibari must be with him right now for stealing a kiss from him. He hadn't even asked! And it had been his first kiss too! What if it was Hibari's first as well?

The thought of being Hibari's first was enough to make him hit his knees with his forehead, face burning bright red in _embarrassment._

Oh god, how _was_ he supposed to face Hibari?

Ugh he _really_ needed a distraction…

 _Come on, something pop up!_ He thought in frustration as he looked around his room. It was certainly an odd day – _quieter_ than normal. He expected that the kids would be at his ankles by now looking to him for playtime by now but they _hadn't_. He hasn't even heard one explosion from the ten -year bazooka at all today! And usually Lambo uses it whenever he would burst into tears!

Even _Reborn_ was being quiet today! Usually he would have come to him by now to bother him about the whole mafia thing.

It seemed that perhaps the whole universe was against him today…until he suddenly noticed his phone on the bedside table.

Before just a couple months ago, he didn't use it very often – he didn't have many people to talk to after all. (A faint memory of making clones of himself to drive away the loneliness of a dull apartment flashed in the back of his mind) But…he _does_ have Gokudera and Yamamoto now…

Happiness burst in his chest as he smiled wide, grabbing his phone. That's right! He actually has friends! It was still hard to remember that he had people who actually enjoyed being in his company, but he tried not to think too much about it. After all he was sure the only reason Gokudera talks to him is because of the mafia thing, and Yamamoto has the complete wrong idea of what kind of person he is because of Reborn (he still thinks he's some strong, courageous person! What kind of sorcery would make anyone think that?).

He openned his phone and went into his text messages, opening the most recent one. It happened to be a late chat between him and Yamamoto a while after his "date" with Hibari. Looking back on it, it was mostly nonsense but it was _nice_ nonsense…if that made any sense.

He sent a quick text.

 **You: Hey! Doing anything interesting right now?**

He stared at his phone, waiting quite anxiously for an answer. Ever since getting Yamamoto and Gokudera's numbers he was always hesitant to call or text first. It was a slow process but he was learning that they didn't mind.

It took Yamamoto barely a minute before he answered.

 **Yama-Star: Not really! I'm gonna meet Dera in a bit to hang out.**

Tsuna ignored a stabbing voice in his head telling him they didn't want to hang out with him. He hung out with them loads of times! Just…not as much as Hibari. And obviously, they've been getting along without him.

And that's good, of course! He still remembered the early weeks of their friendship where Gokudera seemed to hate Yamamoto with every fiber of his being. Now he seemed content with his presence – a huge and welcomed difference in Tsuna's book. It made hanging out with the two of them much easier to handle.

 **Yama-Star: I meant to ask you if you wanted to come but you were a bit preoccupied last night.**

Oh, well, at least he was _thinking_ about him. He tried to ignore his flush as he remembered how he had _babbled on_ about how he had kissed Hibari and how his life was over. Maybe he shouldn't have complained to Yamamoto about it in his tired and stressed state.

 **Yama-Star: How are you holding up, by the way? You seemed really upset about last night.**

 **Yama-Star: I don't see why you are! You and Hibari have been dating for months, right? I thought you two would have kissed by now.**

Tsuna nearly screamed in horror and embarrassment. Yamamoto had thought he and Hibari were dating long before this?! Oh god, were they really acting like a couple?

Thinking back on it…they did hang out a lot, alone, and often hovered near each other, sat near each other and always initiated contact with each other when no one was nearby…

…oh no, no wonder Yamamoto thought they were dating! Did other people think that too?

Pushing away the embarrassing notion, he quickly texted his friend back.

 **You: No! We're just friends! We weren't dating at all before this!**

 **Yama-Star: Ohhhhhhhh**

 **Yama-Star: OHHHHH**

 **Yama-Star: Good for you, Tsuna! You made the first move!**

Tsuna groaned, covering his red face with one hand, looking between his fingers as he typed with the other. He wasn't getting it!

 **You: Yama!**

 **You: This isn't good this is BAD!**

 **You: He probably hates me now! I just kissed him and ran! He probably didn't even want to kiss me!**

 **Yama-Star: Hibari will surprise you. I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He doesn't seem like he could, actually.**

 _What is he talking about?_ Tsuna blinked and frowned, before shaking his head. Either way, he needed to get back on the actual reason he had texted Yamamoto.

 **You: …**

 **You: I don't really want to think about that right now…**

 **You: Actually I wanted some help!**

 **Yama-Star: Ok, with what?**

 **You: Do you have any idea how I can distract myself? Even if it's for a couple hours?**

 **You: If I think about this anymore I'm going to die**

 **Yama-Star: Hmmm**

 **Yama-Star: Well, baseball always helps me! Maybe you can practice something!**

 _Practice_ something? What could he practice? It's not like he has any real _skills_ or outstanding hobbies.

 **You: I'll…think about it**

 **Yama-Star: Ok!**

 **Yama-Star: And tomorrow, you me and Dera are going out for ice cream!**

He let out a small laugh, feeling excitement bubble up at the prospect of seeing his friends, especially for sweets.

 **You: Haha ok! Sounds fun!**

 **Yama-Star: And tell me if this whole thing with Hibari works out.**

 **You: Ok…thanks again**

 **Yama-Star: Always happy to help!**

Tsuna laughed and put down his phone. He had to admit, Yamamoto did seem to know how to make him feel better. Or maybe it was just how cheery he seems to be about nearly everything. It tends to rub off on you.

He began to think over the advice Yamamoto had given him about practice…would _practicing_ something really help—

 _His body was wet and screaming in protest from the work he was forcing it to do. The sound of a waterfall roared in his ears as he worked. His clones were doing more than half the work. But he had to keep going. Keep training. He let his mind go near-numb as he kept going, over and over and over…_

 _Because it was for him. It was for—_

Tsuna jolted, blinking a few times as he tried to calm his heart. His body felt fatigued even though he wasn't actually _there_. He was in his room, sitting on his bed. He wasn't near a waterfall, he wasn't wet or shirtless…

Strangely enough, his flashbacks were becoming far more frequent now, especially ever since he had gotten more "control" over his Dying Will Flames. That's…probably a sign. Though he wasn't sure if it was good or bad.

Does…this mean he'll be getting _all_ of his memories soon?

He wasn't sure if he was really _prepared_ for that…if he was getting his memories…

Doesn't that mean he'd have to remember how he died?

 _Nope, nope, nope, NO._ Tsuna shook his head, quickly placing a cap on _that_ can of depressing worms. He wanted a _distraction_ not something that would cause a panic attack…

"Ciaossu."

He screeched in surprise, jumping back and pressing himself against his wall while his "tutor" stood "innocently" at his bedside, watching him with what could only be unimpressed amusement.

"R-Reborn!" _So,_ _there_ _he is…_ "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The baby was wearing his usual suit-and-pacifier set up instead of the strange and obvious "disguises" he wears sometimes.

"You need to work on your Intuition, Tsuna." He chastised him. Oh right, his "Hyper Intuition." He supposed this weird super power – or whatever it could be called – would come in handy sooner or later. But for now, it just seemed to be something he couldn't exactly control just yet.

He grumbled and crossed his arms, then remembered what Yamamoto had said earlier.

"Reborn? Could you help me…practice?"

Reborn's eyebrows raised up to his hat. "You're _asking me_ to train you?" His eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, and Tsuna gulped.

"Well yeah…we never know when another Mukuro will appear out of nowhere…and it's annoying to get randomly shot at every day…" He grumbled the last part out.

"You should be used to it by now, Tsuna."

"That's not something I should be getting used to!"

Maybe he was whining a bit – but he _really_ needed a distraction. And besides, after the flashback he was filled with the want to be _doing_ something. He suddenly felt even weaker than usual. He needed to be moving, doing something again and again until he could feel himself getting stronger…

Reborn was giving him a look like he was trying to read his very soul. Tsuna could nearly feel himself break out into a cold sweat – sometimes he was sure Reborn was omnipotent with all the things he just seemed to _know_. And he didn't really want to explain the reasoning for why he was so adamant about getting trained all of a sudden.

"…fine. I'll train you today." Reborn finally agreed. "We'll need to strengthen that Hyper Intuition, after all."

Tsuna was…slightly scared about what that meant, but he nodded.

It couldn't be that bad, right?

Tsuna found himself in his backyard about fifteen minutes later, blindfolded and forced to stand in one space.

"You cannot move except to dodge." Reborn called from somewhere to his side. He was intensely aware of every sound and every movement around him. But he couldn't tell if that was just because of the Hyper Intuition or the anxiety coiling in his stomach.

He figured it was the anxiety.

"Well _this_ should be fun to watch." He could hear Bianchi from somewhere in front of him. He nearly groaned aloud.

"Bianchi…why are you here?"

"I don't have anything to do." She merely answered. He could hear her sit down on one of the chairs. "Oh, Reborn maybe that's too heavy." She suddenly said, no longer turned to him. "Try doing something lighter, like the chair here."

Oh god. What was Reborn planning?!

 _Maybe this was a bad idea…_

"This is fine. Besides, Tsuna is used to almost dying. He can handle this."

 _Again! Almost dying multiple times shouldn't be something I'm used to!_ Tsuna wanted to yell, but didn't. Instead he grumbled about stupid teachers and stupid training. (A man with long white hair and a wide smile flashed in his mind – and the days of training with a _ball of swirling light_ hazed over in his head. Strange…)

"Are you ready, Tsuna?"

"No." He answered almost immediately.

Before he could even finish saying the "o," a small, circular object hit him in the face, on his right cheek.

"Fu—!" He bit his lip and held a hand over his cheek, holding back the curse that was about to burst out of his mouth.

"Language, Tsuna." Bianchi sounded like she was laughing at him. He grumbled, rubbing his cheek as he was pretty sure a bruise was starting to form.

"Couldn't you give me more of a warn—" Once again, before he could finish his sentence, another small object hit him right in the face. This time, the other cheek. When had Reborn even moved to his other side?!

"Focus, Tsuna." Reborn said somewhere from his left. "The whole point of this is so you can figure out where I'm throwing these at you from. Your Hyper Intuition should be able to warn you."

"How do I even – ow!" He groaned as one hit him on the small of his back, in a place he couldn't really reach.

" _Focus_."

 _Focus…shit fine ok, I'll focus…_ He took a deep breath. Focus…focus…

 _He was sitting on a thin piece of wood, high in the air and sitting completely still. He focused purely on the air around him, the sounds, the smell…the fact that he was sitting high in the air, balancing on a thin rock…_

Tsuna gasped as he was suddenly brought out of the flashback – at the same time something _buzzed_ in him, whispering to move right. His body moved, hesitating slightly and just in time, he felt something _fly_ past him. He heard the _crack_ of it hitting a tree.

Did Reborn just _crack_ a _tree_ throwing that at him?! Was he _trying_ to kill him?

…wait, he is a hitman so…that's plausible.

God, why did _he_ always get stuck with these kinds of teachers? The ones who practically try to kill him?

Another buzz rose up in him, telling him to move his body to the left – the more he actually focused on it, the easier it was to follow exactly what it was saying with his body. With that, another small ball flew past his face.

"Oh wow, you actually did it!" Bianchi was clapping. He gave her a sheepish smile. It was…odd. He didn't think his Hyper Intuition was actually a _thing._ It was almost comforting, like a small voice in his mind telling him what to do and offering commentary.

Offering…commentary…

Before he could have any time to ponder on why that sent a guilty stab through his heart, his Intuition told him to duck. He immediately fell to the ground, and a second later, heard something fly past where his head was.

"Oh, and here I thought you weren't paying attention." Reborn seemed impressed.

"Since I can obviously do this…can we um…stop?"

"Of course not. You need to be able to do this without any hesitation. I'll aim as if I'm planning to kill you, so it's easier."

"You were doing that anyway!" He blurted out, before immediately ducking once again as something bigger and heavier passed over his head. How was he even lifting them?!

With no sense of how time was _actually_ passing, it felt like hours as Reborn through things at him, aiming for different body parts at the most random times. Sometimes, he even made him stand there in complete quiet for a while before randomly throwing something else.

Before Reborn could throw something else, his Intuition flared, telling him they needed to go inside. He couldn't exactly tell _why_ though…and it wasn't like his Intuition could outright tell him that with words.

"Hey…Reborn? I think we need to stop."

"Why?"

"I don't know...I think my Intuition is telling us to go inside."

"Hm…sounds like you're trying to get out of another hour of training, Tsuna."

"We've been out here for hours?!" Of course – no wonder he felt so sore. Still, he shook his head. "Anyway, we should just go inside, please?"

Reborn was silent, and he wished he could see his expression.

But then he felt the drop, right on his nose.

And then another.

"…is it…?" Before he could fully voice his question, rain began to pour _heavily_ down on them. He yelped, quickly getting drenched. He pulled the blindfold off, Reborn didn't stop him – in fact it seemed he and Bianchi were already inside, hardly wet. He groaned and ran in, heading upstairs before he could be teased.

He sighed as he slipped inside his room, immediately starting to strip off his wet clothes. Whenever he would change nowadays, he always found himself stopping to stare at the little scars Mukuro had left over his body. Looking at them made a shiver run up his back. He definitely was _not_ used to scars. He never had any in his past life. And now he just had a constant…reminder.

Shaking his head, he threw his wet clothes to a pile at the side and walked over to his closet. Craving something warm, and not really planning to head downstairs anytime soon (he was pretty sore from all that dodging), he slipped into one of his bigger sweaters, barely bothering to put an undershirt on underneath. He grabbed some shorts, slipping those on as well. As soon as they were on, he practically dove over to his bed, he climbed under his blankets and grabbed his phone.

He noticed a notification for a new message, and his heart skipped a bit when he realized who it was from.

Hibari.

 **Hiba-Dork: Make sure your window is unlocked.**

Was Hibari coming over? _In this weather_? And so soon after…last night?

He glanced at his window – it was closed and the latch was up. So, it was unlocked. But it was _pouring_ out there…Would Hibari be alright?

He thought about texting Hibari, and tell him not to come because of the rain…when he heard a knock on his window.

"Oh no, he didn't." Tsuna muttered as he looked over to the window…and saw a drenched Hibari opening it, climbing into his room."

"Hey."

"You're drenched!" Tsuna stood, practically forgetting to be embarrassed about what he was wearing to fuss over Hibari. "You're going to get sick like that, you know." He reprimanded him.

Hibari just shrugged. He seemed…odd, not really meeting his eyes. With a sudden horrible realization, Tsuna wondered if he was here to talk about _the kiss._ Was he here to tell him he didn't like it? That he hated him?

"Can I use your bathroom?" He asked, breaking him out of his anxious thoughts. He was glancing at the bruises Reborn had left on his face, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Um…yeah. I'll go find you some clothes…" He quickly left the room before Hibari could ask about his injuries, heading towards his father's room _._

It was basically the room his father stays in whenever he _decides_ to come back home. Tsuna usually avoided the room like the plague – he hated to think about his dad who could never make time for him. He was his son! And he was always working!

With a scowl, he searched his dad's clothes – he figured Hibari will fit in these clothes rather than his – and found a black turtleneck sweater and a pair of sweatpants. That should do it…

He quickly left the room and knocked on the bathroom door. "Hibari? I brought you some clothes."

The door opened, and he was met with a _very shirtless_ Hibari. He had almost forgotten that Hibari is always moving around so he had…muscles. He was quite well toned, something that he normally noticed with his arms but never had he seen his chest…or abs…

His face felt hot, and he found himself opening and closing his mouth, trying to figure out what to say. What _could_ he say, when his crush was standing in front of him, shirtless? Before he could _actually_ say anything that would probably make him embarrass himself, Hibari took the clothes out of his hands and shut the door.

Tsuna, now silently screaming, scurried back to his room and grabbed one of his pillows to hug as he sat on the floor, waiting for Hibari to come out of the bathroom. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out what Hibari may possibly say. Would he talk about the kiss? Would he act like it never happened? Would he try and tell them they should stay friends? Or would he hate him and never talk to him again…?

His door opened and he looked up – Hibari walked in, wearing his father's clothes. The sleeves were a bit big on him and so were the sweatpants, but overall it looked like something that came out of his closet.

"Looks like my dad's clothes fit on you…" he muttered, as Hibari sat next to him on the floor. He seemed bewildered and pretty curious.

"…you have a dad? That's alive?"

He nodded, laughing hollowly. "Yeah. I went from having a dead dad to having one that's never around." He sighed and hugged his pillow closer. He wished it was Hibari, but he felt like the other boy wouldn't want to be touched by him.

Hibari sighed. "I don't know what happened to my dad in this life. I never asked."

Tsuna glanced up at him, interested and surprised. He's never been to Hibari's house. In fact, the other boy seemed adamant on making sure he _never_ goes there. And Hibari never talks about his parents or any siblings…he just kept his whole home life a huge secret.

"What about your mom?" He dared to ask

Hibari's eyes narrowed, glaring at the wall. "I don't like to talk about her."

"Oh." Tsuna looked down, the carpet suddenly seemed extremely interesting at the moment.

Silence passed between them, and it wasn't comfortable like usual. It was…tense. And a little awkward. Tsuna shifted, listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof and his window. It was an almost calming sound.

"Tsuna?" Hibari's voice broke the almost-silence.

"Y-Yeah?"

"About…last night…"

Tsuna tensed up, moving his hand to clutch the necklace he still wore around his neck. "Yeah…?"

Hibari wasn't looking at him, but there was an obvious red to his ears and cheeks. "I wasn't expecting you to kiss me. I hardly knew if _you_ knew it was a date."

The words rang in Tsuna's ears. He jumped up onto his knees, fully turning to Hibari, his eyes wide. "That…that _was_ a date?"

Hibari only nodded.

"You…wanted to go on a date with me." Tsuna blushed as he sat back down. As it began to sink in, he buried his face in his pillow. "We went on a _date_." His voice was muffled, before he suddenly shot up, turning to Hibari. "A-And I _kissed_ you!"

"Are you done pointing out the obvious?" Hibari's voice wasn't mean. In fact, he seemed amused. "I was pretty shocked. I didn't know you had it in you."

"It just kind of _happened_!" He protested, his face was burning. "And I thought…all this time I thought you didn't like it!"

"Well you didn't give me a lot of time to respond." He suddenly noticed Hibari getting closer, their thighs touching. His heart began to hammer in his chest as he glanced up at the other boy. "Can we try again?" He asked, his voice was low and his dark eyes flickered down to Tsuna's lips.

Tsuna's mouth went dry and he hardly trusted his voice, so he just nodded and closed his eyes. He could feel Hibari lean in before his lips gently met his own. He hesitantly answered, gripping his pillow as he tried to awkwardly kiss him back. Hibari's hand moved up to his cheek, rubbing vaguely where a scar was. Somewhat unsure where to move his hands, he moved them from the pillow to his chest, clenching the fabric of the turtleneck sweater.

It was nice. It was _very_ nice. The way their lips moved together, how _close_ and _warm_ it felt, how _right_ it seemed…Tsuna could see why so many people enjoyed kissing. He felt as if he could get addicted to the feeling.

Then all too soon, they pulled away, gasping for air. Hibari recovered first, giving him an almost unsure look.

"…we're boyfriends now, right?"

Tsuna let out a breathless laugh and he nodded, moving his hands to wrap his arms around Hibari's neck, nearly pulling himself onto his lap as he hugged him.

"Yeah, we are."


	17. Day to Day: Ice Cream

Tsuna was practically flying in air.

He wasn't sure how things could possibly get any better after yesterday, where he spent the rest of the afternoon with his new _boyfriend_ (the word still made him make a high-pitched squeaking noise followed by a completely red face) as they waited for the rain to stop (it took quite a few hours). A lot of talking happened (and a lot of kissing) and now after that, he was going to get ice cream with Gokudera and Yamamoto after school.

It was quite noticeable how happy he was – Gokudera pointed it out when they met on their way to school. Yamamoto just smiled and said, "I guess it worked out!" Of course, Tsuna just beamed back and nodded, to the confusion of Gokudera. People looked at him strangely as he went in school; he should have expected that. He normally just ducked his head and talked to Yamamoto and Gokudera.

"Morning Tsuna!" Kyoko greeted him when she entered the classroom with her dark - haired friend – what was her name again?

"Morning Kyoko." He greeted her back, not missing how her friend's eyebrow raised.

"Well _you're_ certainly _chipper_ today. I didn't know you were a morning person, Sawada. Or did something happen?"

"Uh…" He was incredibly aware of how his cheeks broke out into a blush – what was he supposed to say? He hadn't asked Hibari if he could _announce_ their relationship, and he was pretty sure that with Hibari's infamy around the school, word that they're dating would spread quickly.

"He's just excited!" Yamamoto quickly said, "We're planning to go get ice cream after school today."

" _Ice cream_?" Kyoko gasped, her eyes shining. "Can we come?"

"We never _invited_ –" Gokudera began rudely but Tsuna interrupted.

"Of course, you can! It'll be nice to have you!" Tsuna glanced at Gokudera. " _Right_ , guys?"

Gokudera merely grumbled, not able to go against his boss (Tsuna cringed slightly at the thought) and Yamamoto smiled wide.

"Yeah of course!"

Kyoko practically squealed and turned to her friend, who was frowning. She seemed to recognize the look because she immediately pouted. "Oh, come _on_ Hana…"

Tsuna immediately stowed away the name "Hana" because he _knew_ he was going to forget it later. Hana glanced over the three of them with what was probably one of the most _judging_ stares Tsuna has ever seen in this life. She pursed her lips, seeming almost conflicted.

"…I don't know Kyoko. No offense, but to be blunt you three are troublemakers at best. Delinquents at worst. I don't think we should go _anywhere_ with you three after school."

Tsuna deflated slightly while Gokudera growled.

"Hey! Don't call Tenth that!" He stood up, obviously to "defend" Tsuna's honor. Tsuna only groaned.

 _Here we go._

"That's what I'm talking about!" She glared back, practically matching Gokudera's growl. "I mean, look, they've already pulled _Yamamoto_ in whatever they're doing. There's no way _we're_ getting involved."

"Hana! It's just ice cream! We're not doing any more than that…" Kyoko tried to calm down her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on guys, calm down…" Yamamoto had tried to do the same, going to Gokudera but not _exactly_ touching him.

Tsuna merely sighed, sitting in the desk between the two arguing. He ducked his head, hoping that they weren't attracting any stares from other people in their class. Maybe he should…check? He glanced up and noticed yes, they _were_ attracting stares.

He groaned and figured he should at least _try_ to help calm them down – doesn't Gokudera listen to him, even somewhat? As he stood, to try and _attempt_ to get Gokudera to calm down, the door to the classroom seemed to open noticeably _louder_ than usual. Almost immediately, a hush fell over the class and a tense _fear_ came over the room.

"…oh, _great_ it's _you_." Gokudera muttered under his breath.

Tsuna glanced around Hana and couldn't keep down the wide smile and soft blush on his face when he saw his _boyfriend_ (will that ever get old?) standing at the door – glaring everyone down. People near the door began to shift away slightly, to not anger the disciplinary committee president who was known for _hating_ these kinds of settings.

He looked right to Tsuna – and Tsuna suddenly noticed the folded clothes in his arms. Was he…?

"Tsuna." He called him. "Come here."

Immediately he grabbed his bag. Admittedly, he had planned to give Hibari the clothes he had left behind during lunch break, but it seemed he was doing it much earlier. Trying not to look at the slack-jawed students, he quickly went over to Hibari and once he was out in the hallway the other boy closed the classroom door quite quickly. Almost immediately, they could hear whispers and shuffling around from inside. When Tsuna glanced at Hibari he noticed him rolling his eyes.

"I didn't want to deal with the herbivores staring when I gave this to you." He explained himself as he placed the folded clothes in his hands.

"Don't worry about it." Tsuna smiled, "Oh! Wait," digging into his bag, he pulled out the clothes his mother had washed last night (all while gushing about how close he and Hibari were – he wasn't about to tell her _just_ how close yet) and handed it to Hibari. They were a little sloppily folded, sitting among his books for the morning.

"…oh." He looked at his clothes in slight surprise as if he hadn't expected him to give them back so soon.

Tsuna smiled, glanced behind the two of them quickly, and when he found no one was looking he leaned up, pulling Hibari down slightly to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you later, ok?" He asked with a smile. Hibari only nodded – Tsuna could swear he saw a small blush on his cheeks.

 _That's adorable_. Tsuna nearly said aloud, as Hibari righted himself, obviously trying to calm himself after the affection he had shown him. With a nod, Hibari turned and walked back to…whatever he must have been doing. Disciplinary Committee duties, possibly.

Tsuna stuffed the clean clothes into his bag, trying to fit them among his books, which was harder to do in comparison to Hibari's clothes. He decided, bitterly, to blame his father. As he finally zipped his bag closed, he opened the door and found several eyes staring at him in shock. Because, other than the noticeable scar on his cheek, there was no other sign that he was ever harmed.

He gave them a sheepish smile and quickly hurried back to his seat, where Gokudera still seemed in a bad mood, Yamamoto gave his usual smile but it seemed more _knowing,_ Kyoko's eyes were sparkling with curiosity and Hana was sputtering.

"W-What the hell…?" She stared at him as if he was a completely different person. "I _heard_ you were seen with mister _bite you to death_ himself but I didn't think…"

"So, you're really _friends_ with him?" Kyoko's question seemed to ignite the attention of everyone in class, as they had all turned to hear the answer.

He flushed, ducking his head. "Well…uh…you see…"

"Yep!" Yamamoto answered for him. "He's a bit scary, but he's not that bad once you hang out with him for a while." He seemed to not only be talking to Hana and Kyoko, but the whole class, who were now staring in complete disbelief.

" _Not that bad_?" Gokudera scoffed. "He's an _asshole_."

"No, he's _not_ , Gokudera." Tsuna sighed, almost forgetting where he was as he stood up for his boyfriend for what was probably the millionth time. He had lost count of how many times he's done this while only with the two boys.

His Intuition, which was now a bit more active after the training, buzzed in the back of his head in a soft warning. Frowning, he glanced back at Hana and found she was looking down at his desk with curiosity and sudden determination.

 _Oh no._

"Hey, Kyoko?"

"Hm?"

She gave her a smirk that screamed trouble. "I changed my mind. We _should_ go have ice cream today."

Kyoko gasped happily and nearly cheered. Tsuna had the _worst_ feeling as his Intuition buzzed.

Hana turned to him, a glint in her eye. "And since you three are such _close_ friends with Hibari –"

"Actually, Tsuna's the closest to him." Yamamoto added in what he obviously thought was a _helpful_ tone. Tsuna wanted to scream.

She chuckled. " _Right_. So…Hibari's coming too, isn't he?"

"Oh, hell _no_ he isn't—"

"I'll ask him." Tsuna quickly interrupted Gokudera before he could start _another_ argument he would be forced to sit between. Already, he was regretting his decision as Hana gave him a smirk like she had just _won_ something.

"Good." And with that, she had pulled Kyoko over to their desks on the other side of the room.

Tsuna was fairly sure that this was _not_ going to end well. Especially since their group had turned from three to five – obviously, that was crowding material (hell, Hibari was _barely_ comfortable hanging out with three people at once sometimes). There was no _way_ he was going to agree to come along…

"Cheer up, Tsuna!" Yamamoto patted his back. "This'll be fun! The more, the better, right?"

By the way Gokudera grimaced, it was obvious he didn't exactly agree with his view. Tsuna gave him a weak smile, though internally he had matched his grimace.

 _This won't end well…_

The day passed by extremely slowly, especially as Tsuna anxiously waited for lunch when he could ask Hibari if he would be coming to get ice cream with all of them. He was so sure Hibari would say no – there were already two strikes against him. The fact that there would be _crowding_ and the fact that he was sure Hibari wasn't a huge fan of sweets.

Still, when lunch _finally_ rolled around, he told Yamamoto and Gokudera he would meet them later before leaving to where he was sure he would be during this time – his office.

Tsuna doesn't really _visit_ the disciplinary committee room very often. Actually, it would probably be accurate to say he _never_ has. (The last time was back when Reborn had forced them to) Probably because he _knows_ that the disciplinary committee probably doesn't like him due to his rising reputation as a troublemaker and a delinquent and he'd rather not walk in to find someone he didn't know without Hibari.

But he could risk it today, right?

He walked slowly down the mostly empty hallways, and found himself in front of the door. He took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in," A voice that definitely _wasn't_ Hibari's came from inside.

Tsuna took another deep breath. _Just open the door and ask them where Hibari is…_ He opened the door and sighed in relief as he saw it _was_ Hibari at the desk. But, sitting on two couches on opposite sides was the vice-president of the committee, Kusakabe and a member Tsuna didn't recognize. Kusakabe and the other member frowned at the sight of him, and he tensed up.

 _I couldn't be lucky today, could I?_

"You're…Sawada, aren't you?" The member he didn't recognize narrowed his eyes at him. "What are _you_ doing here? Causing _more_ trouble?"

"I…just wanted to ask Hibari something…" He gave Hibari a look to _save him_ but Hibari merely seemed amused, raising an eyebrow.

"Well? What is it?" Suspicion was coming off them in waves.

He sighed. It seemed he'd have to ask in front of them.

"I was wondering if you'd get ice cream with me and the others after school." He tried to say with the straightest face he could. Kusakabe and the other member had dropped their jaws and were now looking at Hibari to see what they expected to be an angry reaction.

Though Hibari just sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "…your friends are going?"

"And Kyoko and her friend Hana." He tried not to laugh at the faces of complete disbelief the two sitting at the couch had. Seeing the slight grimace on Hibari's face, Tsuna sighed. "I know you don't like being around too many people so you don't have to—"

"I'll come."

It was Tsuna's turn to look surprised as he stared at Hibari, before smiling wide. "Ok! We're meeting at the school gate." He quickly left before Hibari could take it back.

Behind him, from the door, he could hear the two immediately questioning Hibari. He silently wished him good luck before finding Gokudera and Yamamoto.

The end of the day came far too quickly for Tsuna's nerves. Hana and Kyoko were already standing at the gate – Kyoko was chattering excitedly as she texted someone on her phone. As Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera grew closer their conversation became clear.

"…just _invite_ more people, even if they _know_ her." Hana told Kyoko in exasperation.

"Oh, what's one more person? Besides, _you_ had _them_ invite Hibari-san. What's the issue?" She asked as she pocketed her phone and suddenly noticed them, waving. "Oh, hi!"

"Kyoko…who are you inviting?" Tsuna asked, feeling a faint sense of dread.

"Oh! Your friend Haru! I haven't seen her for a bit and she seemed excited to go get ice cream with all of us."

Tsuna almost groaned aloud. Gokudera growled next to him.

" _She's_ coming too? Oh, this is just _great_."

Tsuna winced. Haru, still after some time, seemed to have an oddly placed crushed on him, filled with this fantasy of being his wife in the future. He did care for her, but she definitely was not who he was looking at in a romantic way. Besides that…he's never really introduced her to Hibari. Maybe he was a bit scared of how her _personality_ would anger him. He wasn't exactly one for patience.

"Hey, Sawada." Hana snapped a finger in front of his face, making him yelp in surprise. She seemed amused. "Where's Hibari?"

"I…don't know. Maybe he—"

"Had things to tie up." A familiar voice said behind him. He sighed in relief as he looked behind him to see Hibari, though hovering near him and noticeably staying away from the others. Despite the blank look on his face, Tsuna could tell he was just the slightest bit uncomfortable.

 _I really need to make it up to him later._ He reminded himself as he gave Hibari a smile, holding himself back from outright hugging the other boy.

"Wow…you…actually came." Hana said in complete surprise.

He raised an eyebrow. "Tsuna asked me to."

It was said in such a blunt, honest way, Tsuna couldn't stop the blush rising on his cheeks. Yamamoto nudged his side, giving him a smile that said _told you so._

Having Yamamoto as the only one – so far – who knows that he and Hibari are together was far more embarrassing than he thought it would be.

Their walk to the Shopping Centre was exactly as Tsuna thought it would be like – Gokudera and Hana butting heads, Yamamoto finding the whole thing amusing and spending a majority of the time unsuccessfully trying to calm Gokudera down, Kyoko being cheerful about the whole thing and mostly trying to strike up non-argumentative conversation, and Hibari staying fairly silent, near Tsuna and only making small comments in Tsuna's ear, staying close enough that it was obvious they're _close_ but not in a _"we're dating"_ sort of way.

But then, of course, as they got closer to the ice cream shop Tsuna noticed Haru standing in wait, wearing her school uniform and holding her school bag. As she saw their group, her expression brightened into a wide smile. She and Kyoko let out happy squeals as they hugged and greeted each other – and then she noticed _Tsuna_.

 _Oh, here we go_.

"Tsuna-san!" She practically squealed, running over to him for a hug.

He let out a small yelp, stepping back and into Hibari's chest. Before she touched him, he found himself behind Hibari, with the taller male glaring down at her. When she realized he had disappeared from her grasp, she pouted before glaring up at Hibari.

"Who are you?"

He didn't answer, and Tsuna sighed before peaking out behind Hibari, giving Haru a small, sheepish smile. "Um…hey Haru-san. This is my…f-friend, Hibari." He tripped over the word, holding himself back from saying _boyfriend_. "Hibari, this is…Haru."

She smiled as she held a hand out to him. "I'm going to be Tsuna-san's future wife, so I guess I should get to know all his friends!"

Hibari stared at her hand before narrowing his eyes and looking away. Tsuna could _feel_ the annoyance coming from him. He sighed and slid in front of Hibari before the situation could get any worse. "Er…how about we just go in?"

Haru shrugged and turned to Kyoko and Hana for conversation. Tsuna sighed in relief.

He glanced at Hibari, and noticed him glaring down at the ground near Haru – possibly holding himself back from glaring directly at _her_.

At least _getting_ the ice cream wasn't that bad. Though Gokudera snapped at the girl behind the counter (sparking another argument between him and Hana, which Haru joined in and Yamamoto had to step in to make sure it didn't get bad enough for them to get kicked out) and Haru and Kyoko could hardly decide what they wanted. Tsuna just got a couple scoops of chocolate and Hibari didn't get anything despite Kyoko trying to coax him (it seemed she quickly got comfortable around him to the surprise of Tsuna though Hana hardly seemed as surprised as him).

They (somehow) managed to find two empty tables and seven seats for all of them. Haru tried to grab the seat to the left of Tsuna but Hibari slipped into it and gave her a smirk. She scowled but tried the seat on his right, only to find Gokudera had planted himself there, bringing Yamamoto next to him.

Hana, who seemed to notice this, rolled her eyes and beckoned her to sit next to her in the seat across from Tsuna. She whispered something to her that Tsuna couldn't hear, but by the beaming smile she gave her, he wondered what it was.

Conversation went on as normal – lively, even more so with the girls joining them. Tsuna couldn't help but smile as he watched his friends talk and "playfully" bicker amongst each other. He was about to eat another spoonful of his ice cream when Hibari nudged his side. He glanced at him and Hibari stared at him wordlessly, then glanced at the ice cream and back at him.

Tsuna nearly snickered aloud. "You want some?" He didn't notice how conversation halted as he spoke and pointed his spoonful of ice cream to Hibari's mouth. "Why didn't you get ice cream for yourself?"

"Didn't want to." He answered firmly before eating the spoonful. Tsuna just barely notice his eyes flicker to Haru before smirking.

 _Oh no._

Haru's mouth had dropped open – Yamamoto was laughing.

"Aw, you two are _adorable_." He laughed, much to Tsuna's embarrassment.

" _Yamamoto_." He whined, trying to shush him.

"Tsuna-san!" Haru stood up (ignoring the "Oh god please sit down" from Hana) "I know _exactly_ what's going on here!"

"You…do?" He didn't think _this_ was how they would be announcing that they're together but well…

She pointed at Hibari, glaring him down and Hibari only matched the glare. " _He's_ my _love rival_! It's obvious since he stole an indirect kiss from you!"

Kyoko gasped. "Is it true? Hibari-san likes Tsuna?"

Yamamoto was smiling and Gokudera was…strangely quiet. Hibari let out a small huff and looked away, though Tsuna noticed a flash of pink on his cheeks. Which made _him_ start blushing because how can he _not_?

But it's probably a good idea for him to interfere before Haru goes off and decides some strange nonsense to "win"his affections or something (looking back on the things she's done before, he figured she would).

"Um…" Tsuna was _very_ aware of eyes on him. He grasped Hibari's hand under the table, Hibari gave his hand a small squeeze. "It's…well it's like that but it's also like…well…" He glanced at Hibari, who only gave him a nod which he translated as " _go ahead._ " With a deep breath, he managed to say, "Hibari and I are dating."

Haru deflated immediately, letting out a whine and sinking into her chair, putting her head on the table. Kyoko patted her back, though gave Tsuna a wide smile.

"I'm glad you two have each other – you seem to like him a lot." She winked, and with a blink she suddenly had green eyes and pink hair and his heart swelled with happiness and a fond sort of sadness.

"Thank you, Sa - Kyoko." No one seemed to notice his blunder, but Hibari seemed to by the way he gave his hand a quick squeeze.

Hana sighed and shook her head. "You know what? By the way he's been looking at you this whole time I should have guessed."

 _The way he's been looking at me?_ Tsuna blinked. Next to him Hibari turned away again, a faint blush on his cheeks.

They turned to Yamamoto who shrugged. "I've known since last night. He texted me after it happened."

Hibari turned to Tsuna in amusement, who blushed. "Yamamoto asked me to tell him when it happens!"

"Because I told you it would!" He said cheekily. "Do you know how long you were whining because you thought he hated you because _you_ made the first move?"

" _He_ made the first move?" Hana's jaw dropped, and even Haru glanced up from the table. "No, no wait, Yamamoto you _have to_ tell me what you know."

Yamamoto laughed. "Ok, well they went on a date…"

Tsuna tuned it out, mostly to save himself from the embarrassment and teasing he would definitely get. Instead, he gave Hibari's hand a quick squeeze, silently happy at how his friends reacted to this news.

Though, sadly, he didn't notice that Gokudera was…quiet for a majority of the time they spent talking about their relationship. Very, very quiet.

* * *

 **Oh poor Gokudera. Well, we have one more chapter of this little "Hibari and Tsuna get together" Arc before we start the Varia Arc which I'm pretty excited to get to.**


	18. Day to Day: The Calm

Gokudera wanted to curse whatever or whoever was trying to cut a hole right through his heart. He always knew he would never had a chance with his Boss – the soon to be leader of the Vongola, a boy with a heart of gold and courage despite what he may think. He would still think that maybe, just maybe, he had a _chance_ of being with him. A small chance of the boy finally looking at _him_ with awe-filled brown eyes and a wide smile but…no.

No, those feelings were reserved for Hibari – and Gokudera was left to suffer in silence.

The boy grimaced as he kicked a stray can on the ground, currently wandering around by himself, far from his apartment room and his friends. He had even left his phone back there. Maybe that was a bit risky (what if there was an emergency?) but he wasn't in the mood to have any conversations.

Currently, he was far more focused on the fact that the boy he has a crush on was now _officially_ dating someone else. He always knew his feelings wasn't _returned_ but…it still hurt.

And it wasn't like he could actually _talk_ to anyone about these annoying feelings. The only one who really knows is Yamamoto, and he seemed to get _weird_ whenever they talked about Tenth.

"Oh?"

He froze at the familiar voice – glancing to the side to see Bianchi coming out from a side street, carrying a couple bags of groceries. Immediately, flashes came behind his eyes – the taste of poison on his tongue, the horrible sounds of a piano, the burning feeling in his stomach, her calm smile and his father's grin – and when he blinked, he was laying on the sidewalk. There was a dull pain in the back of his head and Bianchi was above him but she had thrown on goggles, which she seemed to carry around fairly often now.

Just _another_ annoying thing today – Bianchi just had to be here. Just seeing her face made him get flashbacks and he _hated_ that he couldn't just…get over it.

"Sorry," she apologized in a low voice. If his head wasn't _pounding_ he would have snapped at her for treating him like he was fragile. "I didn't expect to run into you."

He merely grumbled and sat up, a little too fast as the earth spun in front of him.

"Take it easy," there was slight amusement in her voice, but mostly worry. He scowled and pushed her away.

"Shut up, I don't need your help." His usual biting words were a bit weaker today than usual. He leaned against a stone wall behind him. She sat next to him, noticeably keeping an arms-length between them. "Why are you here?"

" _Maman_ asked me to pick up some food for dinner."

Oh right, he had almost forgotten that she was staying at Tenth's house. He sighed, stubbornly keeping his gaze away from here even though she _had_ covered part of her face for him.

"What are you doing, wandering around?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing." He immediately snapped back. He could _feel_ her knowing glare and he let out another sigh. "…I found out Tenth isn't single."

"Oh, he told you he's dating Hibari now?"

He turned to her this time – so she _did_ know? She just seemed amused, sighing wistfully and smiling, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Ah, young love. Those two are adorable together, don't you think?"

His stomach churned and he looked away, letting out a grunt in answer. His mouth felt sour and if he wasn't still waiting for his head to stop hurting he would have left. He could feel her calculating eyes on him before she let out a soft sigh.

"…you have to let him go, you know."

He turned to her again, his eyes widening. She seemed so serious – she was _always_ serious when it came to "love" – and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

"What the hell do _you_ know? _You're_ the one who came here all the way from Italy to _kill_ Tenth because he 'kept Reborn from you!'" He couldn't help but bite back, enjoying the slight twitch of her eye.

"I've…changed tactics." She said slowly, as if choosing every word. "And – Hayato you can't _blame_ me. Have you met Tsuna? _You_ try killing him. It doesn't work."

He let out a slight, bitter laugh at that because when they first met he _did_ try killing him. But he had somehow gotten enamored with him instead. He seemed to attract people like that – those who dislike him end up liking him and wanting to be around him.

"Look," at the sound of her voice, he glanced back up at her, "Tsuna...he really likes Hibari. I've seen the way he looks at him and how he talks about him. You need to let go or find someone else."

"Someone _else_?" He scoffed. "Like anyone would want _me_."

"Oh Hayato, of course someone wants you." She let out a small chuckle, like she knew something _he_ didn't. "Who's that friend of yours – Yamamoto?"

He nodded, completely puzzled. What did the baseball dork have to do with this?

"I think you should focus on him for now." The playful smile on her lips didn't go away, and he narrowed his eyes. "You need… _friendly_ support. Don't focus on your feelings for Tsuna, they'll go away in time."

"Like _your_ feelings for Reborn are going away?"

She scoffed. "That's _true love,_ Hayato, it's not _going away_."

He almost let out a laugh. His sister was…stubborn when it came to love, especially when it came to _her_ love life. And she certainly didn't mind meddling in the love lives of other people. With a shake of his head he slowly stood – the pain in the back of his head had become a dull throb. "I'll…think about it."

She smiled and stood with him. "Good. Now, I should get back to _Maman_ before she gets worried. And _you_ should head home. Little boys like you shouldn't be out so late."

"Fuck you." He spat at her, his usual fire was back with a vengeance in the embarrassment of being treated like he was some _kid_. "I'll go back to my apartment when I want." He stomped off, ignoring her chuckles that disappeared down the street.

Still…he knew he had to head back to his apartment soon. He _had_ left behind his phone behind after all…

Besides, maybe he could throw a text at Yamamoto… _not_ that he was taking his sister's advice but…it would be nice to talk to the dork…

O~O~O

Hibari and Tsuna are together.

Reborn…had expected this. Watching the two, it wasn't hard to see how much they cared about each other. He couldn't say he liked it, not as much as Bianchi obviously did with how she gushed about it. No, he was far more worried.

In his opinion? Tsuna wasn't anywhere near _ready_ to be in a relationship.

He didn't see anything wrong with small crushes that would end with nothing (as he suspected his crush on Kyoko was) but this seemed…serious. They acted as if they've known each other for years instead of months. They communicated with facial expressions, with silence, with odd references to past things and secret smiles. Maybe they were too young for love, but Reborn had a feeling that's what it was.

Love? In just a few months?

A connection? When they had never met before now?

For a while, the existence of Tsuna and Hibari has been all questions and no answers. But he had a feeling the answer lied in their relationship. Whatever was behind their relationship was the answer to all the questions he had about Tsuna.

Tsuna came home waving goodbye to someone – probably Hibari – from the gate. It was almost amusing, since he knew there was a 90% chance the boy was just going to slip into Tsuna's bed that night either way.

Reborn easily followed Tsuna to his room and jumped onto his bed while he was distracted. With a smirk, he allowed himself a moment to relish this. Tsuna may have Hyper Intuition but he was nowhere close to ever noticing him just yet. It made scaring him an entertaining experience.

"Tsuna."

The boy yelped, as he thought he would, and sit up on his bed, turning to him with wide eyes before he relaxed. The surprise in his eyes was replaced with exasperated annoyance.

" _Reborn_ , stop sneaking up on me."

"I'll stop when you notice me." He only replied. "I've heard you got together with Hibari."

The blush was obvious on his cheeks as he smiled shyly, looking off to his window with disgustingly lovesick eyes. "Yeah…we are…"

"I don't think you're ready for a relationship Tsuna." He watched his reaction, noting how he tensed and grabbed the necklace around his neck as he turned back to him in clear bewilderment. "You aren't strong enough for it yet."

"What...what do you _mean_ I'm not strong enough yet?!"

That always seemed to hit a nerve lately, pointing out how weak he was made him flinch like it was more than just a light jab.

"I mean," he wondered how to word this to get the right reactions and information, "you are the next Vongola Boss," he ignored the familiar groan, "and you haven't fully learned how to control your Flames just yet. What if someone far stronger than Mukuro comes by?" He noticed how Tsuna's eyes hazed over for a moment. He waited, knowing it's futile to try and speak to him when he had these weird moments. Once his eyes cleared again, he continued, "Hibari is strong but you need to be able to hold your own in a fight."

"I'm _trying,_ Reborn. I'm _dame-Tsuna_ remember?" The snap was out of character, especially the glare. Reborn wasn't fazed though it was… _interesting._ He noted a lot of out of character moments Tsuna had for reference later."And it's not like I can just shoot myself and start training with my Dying Will whenever I want. _And_ I already asked you for training! Like, willingly! So, you wouldn't _shoot_ me to try and train me! I only did that because the way I would ask for training before—"

He froze in the rant but Reborn was already invested. So, he's asked for training before? How…interesting. _Very_ interesting; but now he just had _more_ questions.

And there was no way he was going to manage to slither any more information out of Tsuna. He grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it, effectively cutting out the world.

Oh well. He'll leave him alone for now.

O~O~O

Tsuna sighed when he heard the door close. Ugh, Reborn is such an _ass_ sometimes. But still, the words of him being not ready for a relationship was a jab to his mind. He _hated_ being called weak. He was so used to it before and now with these memories he was _annoyed_ at the fact that he couldn't run as fast or punch someone without hurting his hand instead of their jaw.

 _What should I do? It's not like it was before where I can just work until I collapse. Dying Will Flames is different from chakra._

He paused, then he frowned in sight confusion and this odd growing feeling of emptiness.

Why…was he waiting for a response?

Why did he _expect_ a response? It's not like there's supposed to be someone in his head!

…was there?

His frown deepened as he curled in on himself. There's someone he _forgot_. It was…different from the people he was slowly remembering from his past. No, this _person_ was _different_ from them, somehow.

" _I'll be waiting for you, brat."_

He jolted up in surprise as the memory of that _voice_ came to him. A feeling of fondness and self-loathing surfaced. He knew that he was supposed to find Hibari, and he did that…but…was there someone else he was supposed to find?

O~O~O

Nana Sawada – or _Maman_ as her lively house guests enjoyed calling her – was worried about her son.

She was _always_ worried about her son in some way or another. He used to be such a cute and curious child who was so attached to her. Then when he began middle school it all went downhill as his grades were terrible and he had no friends.

But then he somehow _found_ friends, or they found _him_ and she's, honestly, never been happier for him. Sure, she's practically given up on him doing well in school but at least he won't be lonely.

Of course…she's still _worried._ How could she not be? Her son had practically changed overnight. Sometimes he would stare at her as if he didn't fully recognize her. Sometimes she would find he had locked himself in the bathroom, stifling his sobs. She's his _mother_ and despite what he says she is _allowed_ to be terribly worried about him.

Then there were the scars…ones that had appeared after he and the other guests had disappeared for a couple days. She had forgotten the explanation Reborn had given her, but Tsuna was…different after that. The small scars were littered around his body as if someone had cut into him, one by one, with a sharp knife. And he was a bit quieter, spending far more time in his room and half of the time he seemed to be in a complete haze.

He hardly tells her anything anymore, and she knew she wouldn't get anywhere if she asked.

She just prayed that whatever he was getting himself into, he wouldn't lose too much of himself on the way…

With a sigh, she dried off her hands and went to check the mail, sorting through different fliers until she got to a small postcard, showing a picture of ice and penguins. Her smile widened and she nearly squealed aloud.

Oh, this should cheer Tsuna up! She immediately began making a list, planning out the meals she needed to make tomorrow…

On the postcard, neatly laid out from the rest of the mail, it read:

 _I'll be back home soon._

 _-Dad_

* * *

 **I don't know about you guys but I am _extremely_ excited for next chapter when Tsuna's dad comes and we get more on Tsuna's frustration with that. And I hope you like the little hints I'm pushing with this "person" Tsuna wants to remember. I'm sure you all know who it is. **


	19. The Oncoming Storm

**Sorry this is a day late guys, I was on a mini vacation with my family and I was too tired to finish it by time I got home Monday. Also, this chapter actually gave me quite a bit of difficulty to finish. I tried to emulate how Tsuna would feel considering he has the memories of Naruto and his own annoyance towards his dad.**

* * *

Tsuna woke up that morning and immediately felt… _odd._

First off, he wasn't woken up by a gunshot. No, in fact, he woke up strangely cold and about an hour earlier than usual, and with a strange buzz in the back of his head. For what must have been the millionth time, he wished Hibari had stayed until he woke up that morning.

The others didn't seem that odd – and when he went to school it didn't feel odd either.

It was only when day fell into night that the buzz in the back of his mind grew ( _my Intuition._ He had to remind himself). He slipped into the dining room that night and his jaw dropped.

On the table was perhaps the most amazing dishes he had ever seen – more than the amount he's seen lately since their house guests arrived. And there was Reborn, sitting and sampling like this was all _normal._

"What the he-heck?!" He sputtered, reminding himself there's not only children, but his mother in the next room. His mother _never_ cooked this extravagantly, not even for birthdays or special occasions! And she _loved_ cooking for people. He turned to find his mother humming a tune, still putting together more dishes. In fact, it seemed like she was hardly close to finishing. "Mom! What's going on?!"

"I was going to ask the same thing." Bianchi hummed, watching the woman sway as she sang. "She's been like that since last night."

 _Since last night?_ He didn't remember anything that particularly happened last night, other than Reborn scolding his relationship status and the crushing feeling of loneliness. _Did something else happen last night?_ He asked someone, who wasn't there.

"Tsuna-nii," the voice of Fuuta made him look down at the younger boy, "did you get a 100 on a test?"

"Nope." He answered immediately. He hadn't even gotten a graded test back yesterday and even if he did, he knew he probably failed it. He turned back to his mother, who was radiating a kind of hyper joy he hasn't seen in _years._ "…um…Mom?" She didn't answer, too caught up in her own world. He groaned and cupped his hands around his mouth. " _Mom_!"

She finally jumped, shocked out of her own world and she turned to him. It seemed to take her a second to register it was her son, but once she did her smile brightened and she waved the knife in her hand fairly loosely. "Oh, hi Tsu-kun!"

He whined internally at the nickname, keeping an eye on the knife she held like a cooking novice. "What happened? You're acting strange."

"Oh! I haven't told you yet." She set down the knife and fully turned to him, putting her hands together. "Daddy's coming back after 2 years! Isn't that wonderful?"

"…what?" He stared at her in complete surprise, immediately filled with horror, frustration, anger, and finally, numbness. "…oh."

" _Oh_?" She pouted. "I thought you would be happier about that!"

He scowled. "What the hell am I supposed to be happy about? He's been _gone_ for _2 years_ how can you expect me to just be happy he's appearing all of a sudden! He never even _calls_ —"

"Tsuna!"

He huffed and looked away, crossing his arms. Despite all the food and amazing smells, he wasn't hungry anymore. How could he be, when he now knew who it was for?

The silence was awkward, and finally Bianchi spoke up. "I…didn't know _Papan_ was around, since _Maman_ never talks about him, I suspected it was taboo…"

"I thought he was dead." Fuuta admitted, giving the silent Tsuna a worried look.

"It's just that he's never home and he's always off doing whatever job he comes up with to tell us." Tsuna's voice was a little harsh but he hardly cared at the moment.

"He's digging up oil in a foreign country." His mother explained, completely ignoring her son's tone as she continued wistfully. "He's a man of dirt!"

"Tsuna?" Bianchi called out to the boy who was beginning to leave the room.

"But Tsuna! Your dinner…"

"Not hungry." He answered shortly, running up the stairs to his room. He could hear their muffled talking downstairs, probably Bianchi and Fuuta asking more questions about his dad. He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair before grabbing his favorite pillow to hug before he grabbed his phone.

He quickly found Hibari's number and called him. He didn't know if he was at school or anywhere else but he just _needed_ to hear his voice. He nearly sighed in relief when he heard Hibari's smooth, _"Tsuna?"_ from the other end.

"…hey." He muttered.

" _What's wrong? You sound upset."_ He could almost see Hibari's frown.

"My dad's coming to town. After _two years_ of just disappearing on us. No contact, no nothing." His voice was nearly a growl at the end. Flashes behind his eyes, of being _alone_ and wishing he had parents, watching other kids with their loving mothers or fathers and wishing he _had that_.

And he _could have_. This time, he had a mom _and_ a dad. And his mom might be…a bit out there and worries too much but he didn't really mind because _he had a mom_. But _of course_ he couldn't have it all. He couldn't just have a dad who was actually _around_. And even when he _was_ around he was barely a father.

"… _do you want me to come over?"_ That seemed to be his solution to everything. Though Tsuna certainly wouldn't mind being in his arms right now.

"If you want…won't your mom be mad that you come around so often?"

" _No. I'm not sure she even notices I'm gone."_ He said so nonchalantly but Tsuna frowned. What kind of mom did Hibari have?

"Hibari—"

" _I'll be there in a couple minutes. Keep your window open."_

"It's always open, you know that." He replied lightly, smiling when he heard a soft chuckle at the other end.

" _Right. Bye, Tsuna."_

"Bye, Hibari." He hung up and sighed, still hugging his pillow. Thank god for Hibari, never hesitating to walk to his house on short notice. He kept his eyes on the window, almost impatient to see his boyfriend climb through.

After a few minutes of hugging his pillow and watching the window, familiar hands slid open the window and Tsuna immediately jumped up. Hibari had barely climbed in before he practically ran over and hugged him around his waist, burying his face in his shirt. The taller boy seemed surprised for a moment before he felt arms around him.

"…need to talk?" Hibari asked, voice muffled as he gave him a small kiss on his forehead.

Tsuna shrugged, trying to hide his flush at the show of affection. "I'm just…sad. And mad. And frustrated. Just…sit with me, please?" He began pulling Hibari over to his bed, sitting down and without much prompting Hibari sat next to him. He leaned against Hibari, putting a head on his shoulder and he felt Hibari's arm slide around his waist, pulling him closer.

"…will you be ok?" Hibari suddenly asked after a few moments of silence.

"With my dad? No." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "But I'll deal with him for mom. And it's not like I _have_ to talk to him all the time." He glanced up at Hibari. "…you don't mind…coming over often while he's here, do you?"

Hibari shook his head. "You know I don't."

"Just wanted to make sure." He leaned up and, as it was really one of the only things he knew he could do confidently, he gently kissed Hibari on the lips – a soft brush of their lips together. And though they've kissed a few times each time still sent his heart pounding.

Hibari let out a soft sigh, leaning down to connect their lips once again.

And for the next few minutes, they allowed themselves to only think about each other.

The next morning came as a painful reminder when Tsuna went downstairs to still see the plethora of food intended for his _dad_. Immediately, he was thrown into a bad mood that Gokudera and Yamamoto noticed very quickly.

"Tsuna, what's wrong?" Yamamoto was the first to ask.

Tsuna sighed, grimacing. "My dad's coming back."

"Oh? That's great!" He frowned when he saw the expression on Tsuna's face. "…or not?"

Tsuna shook his head. "Definitely not." He let out a sigh. Seeing the expectant expressions of his two friends, he ended up immediately opening his mouth, "I mean, he's always off on jobs and he tells us random things that he's doing. Since I've been little the story has never been the same. One time when I was little he told me he goes _around the world_ to _control the traffic in construction sites_. And the reason he's away recently is because he's digging up oil or something! But the postcard he sent was from an icy place!" He missed the concerned expressions Gokudera and Yamamoto sent each other as he went on his rant. "He never calls, he barely contacts us, and when he's home he barely _tries_. And I'm supposed to see _him_ as my _father_?" Frustrated tears sprouted in his eyes. His emotions in turmoil over resentful emotions towards his parents in both lives.

His friends were silent, though he suddenly felt Gokudera's hand rest on his shoulder. The sudden touch surprised him – but he glanced up anyway to see what he realized was a comforting smile.

"I think this calls for a skip day."

"Great idea, Gokudera!" Yamamoto immediately jumped on the bandwagon, his smile as wide as usual. Tsuna, though _didn't_ miss the light pink that appeared on Gokudera's cheeks for a split second. Well _that_ was new.

Yamamoto turned to Tsuna, the smile still evident. "It's Sunday, and we deserve a break from school, don't we? And we can invite everyone!"

"Don't invite idiots." Gokudera huffed, but Tsuna could feel the playful tone.

He couldn't help but let a smile break out on his face. He hardly skipped anymore, mostly out of fear of Reborn, but memories of his past, jumping out the window of his Academy building when he was sick of class was still evident in his mind. He missed skipping class to go off and do his own thing.

An hour later, he found himself walking alongside his friends, along with Kyoko and Haru. Though, somehow Fuuta, Lambo, Ipin and Reborn found out about their day out and insisted they come too. Sadly, he found out that Hibari wasn't able to skip with them because of an obligation with his committee, but that was fine since Tsuna hardly wanted Hibari to deal with crowds again. The shopping district was especially full today, giving another reason why Hibari would have hated to come. And though Tsuna missed his boyfriend (though they just saw each other the night before) it was nice to keep his mind off the man he didn't want to meet.

"I want to go to an arcade!" Fuuta excitedly told Yamamoto, who chuckled.

"Sure! You wanna match?"

"I wanna come too!" Gokudera heatedly said, standing next to Yamamoto, their shoulders brushing. Yamamoto seemed surprised but by the small flash of pink on his cheeks he didn't seem to mind.

Tsuna smiled, about to open his mouth to ask if he could come too, when Kyoko tapped his shoulder.

"Kyoko?" He blinked, frowning at her worried look.

"Lambo-kun is missing."

 _Oh god no._ He nearly groaned aloud before leaving the group's side to find Lambo. As he did, a buzz began to ring in the back of his head. His Intuition.

He grimaced. He could _tell_ something bad was coming soon. Of course, his father is coming _and_ something else is coming too. Couldn't he get a break for five more minutes? Was that too hard to ask?

Either way, he hardly got his break. While the others were having fun at the arcade and other places around the District, he was stuck watching Lambo and making sure the kid didn't run into trouble. Somehow, taking care of the little brat brought on a fond memory of a kid who was lonely too, who he took under his wing and who shared a dream with him. What…was his name? Ko…?

"Tsuna-kun." He glanced up, pulled out of his past thoughts as Kyoko smiled down at him. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." He answered, sighing softly as he watched Lambo drink the water he bought for him. The buzz of his Intuition grew louder, almost deafening. He couldn't help but slip a hand into his school bag, feeling for his gloves.

Kyoko's eyes were suspicious. Tsuna blinked, and for a moment her eyes seemed green and her hair seemed pink. "Yamamoto told us you needed some cheering up."

"He did?" He nearly groaned. He was grateful, but he didn't want _everyone_ to know about his family problems. Seeing her worried glance, he quickly offered her a smile. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, I'm _fine._ "

She stared at him. "What…did you call me?"

He blinked, almost horrified at his mistake. He opened his mouth, about to come up with _some_ excuse to how he had messed up her with the girl he was so fond of so long ago, when she shushed him.

"…did you hear that?"

He paused. His Intuition buzzed loudly in his ears.

Then came the explosion.

His Intuition screamed in his ears. _Catch him! Catch him!_

Hardly realizing what he was doing, he stood, bracing himself before a body suddenly slammed into his own, with enough force to send him to the ground. He winced – the impact of the ground to his back was definitely enough to leave a bruise. Deciding to ignore the pain for the moment (was he growing a pain tolerance? Probably) he glanced up at the boy who he had caught – the boy was staring down at him in obvious shock.

"Th-Thou art…!"

The sudden old way of speaking shocked Tsuna into messing up his words. Instead of asking if he was ok he sputtered, "In this century…?!"

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna! Are you ok!"

He and the boy turned to see Gokudera and Yamamoto running over. Seeing the position he was in, the boy sitting on top of him and him laying down, the two of them quickly sat up.

"HEEEEY!" The loud voice made them all look up to see another person – a man with long white hair. "What's this? Outsiders parading around?"

The mocking voice and long hair made Tsuna blink. For a moment, he was sure the person's hair was blond and he was riding on a clay figure, his cloak black with red clouds.

"For fucks sake." Tsuna grumbled. His Intuition was a low buzz, but mostly silent.

"My apologies, Lord Tsuna." The boy spoke next to him, the dying will flame flickered on his forehead. "I've been followed."

"Er…no it's fine just uh—" _What the hell is going on here?_

"Please, you need to come with me!" He grabbed his hand, and immediately began to run, leaving behind a shocked Gokudera and Yamamoto

"H-Hey! At least tell me where we're going!"

"We need to find a safe place! I would like to tell thee something!"

"Hey!" The white-haired man landed in front of them, glaring. Tsuna sent back his own glare. He felt antsy, his body wanting to fight but his Intuition screamed, telling him this opponent was too strong. ( _When has that ever stopped me before?_ )

But it happened too fast.

The boy stood in front of him, taking the man's attack instead of him. He flew into a wall, falling in rubble and a pool of his blood.

He couldn't help but feel weak once again, especially when the man turned to him, "What's your relation with this kid? If you don't spill, I'll slice you."

His voice was stuck in his throat – half between panicking or saying something rude.

He was saved by bombs, and once again Tsuna felt immense relief that he had Yamamoto and Gokudera as friends.

But they didn't win.

In fact, it was the fastest Tsuna had ever seen them go down in a fight.

The boy went to fight him again, and Tsuna cursed himself for leaving his school bag behind with his gloves.

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised when he suddenly found the gloves hitting his face, and Reborn giving him a judging look.

"You should have your gloves on everywhere Tsuna."

Tsuna grumbled, but slipped them on.

From there, it was a blur – happening so fast as the familiar feeling of Dying Will pulsed through him. As he went in-between the man and the boy who had defended him for whatever unknown reason. He fought, his mind flipping through memories of the past, using chakra, using…something _else._

For a moment, he hesitated. Where was it? Where was that power that used to be there? Where was that power that he grew to accept?

Where was _he_?

That hesitation was all the man needed, and he was sent flying to the ground. The Dying Will flickered out. His emotions were in turmoil as the man went to make his final blow. He was probably panicking just a little.

After all, how were you supposed to act when you were sure there was supposed to be someone there, and they _weren't_?

It was the boy who saved him, using a smoke screen and pulling him inside a building. He was obviously still injured, and Tsuna couldn't help the worry.

"Are you ok?"

"My name is Basil." He said, a little quickly. "Being asked by the master, I've come to deliver this to thee." His way of speaking was very off, and he handed him a box filled with rings. "Reborn-san knows what it is. Take this and flee."

"But-"

"HEY!"

It was too late. The man found them.

Tsuna had absolutely no idea what was going on. So of course, that's when Dino had to show up. At the sight of Dino, the man – who was apparently named Squalo, fled with the box of "Vongola rings."

They went to the hospital for Basil, but once again, Tsuna only felt absolute confusion.

They gave him the rundown of the whole thing – about the Rings and how there's been so much bloodshed over them. And Squalo apparently didn't take the real ones.

Nope, because Dino had them.

It was too much for such a short time. Tsuna couldn't help but leave, confident they were safer in Dino's hands than his. Didn't Squalo decide to leave at the sight of him anyway?

But, when he got home, he wondered if he should have just stayed at the hospital.

Their laundry racks outside were covered with large undershirts and different working coats. At the sight of them, he grimaced in distaste.

 _Seems Dad's home._

With a deep breath – _I can do this_ – he opened the door and the first thing he saw was dirt covered boots along with a pickaxe and a hardhat. He wrinkled his nose, and looked up to find Bianchi, giving him a look of sympathy.

"Tsuna, _Papan_ is back."

"…where is he?" It's been two years, and in honesty, he could hardly remember what he looked like.

"Follow the smell of alcohol." She gave him an awkward pat on the head.

He sighed and did so, grimacing as he found a complete mess – his father laying asleep on the floor surrounded by finished plates of food and countless cans of alcohol. Tsuna couldn't help the noise of disgust.

He took a step closer, crouching next to the sleeping man with a frown. "…the last time I saw you, I wasn't getting my memories." He muttered softly. "Now that I am…I remember my old father, even if it's pretty vague. And he fucking _died_ and he was still a better dad than you were. At least he tried to be there for me, even in death." He sighed and stood up straight, deciding to head to his room so he could change into his comfort clothes.

It was time for Plan: Avoid his dad and spend most of his time with Hibari and his friends.

O~O~O

Iemitsu cracked an eye open, frowning slightly as he watched the back of his son.

Old father? Memories? _What was he talking about?_

This was…new. Tsuna was certainly different from the boy he remembered two years ago. And Nana _had_ mentioned he's been off lately – panic attacks, seeming almost out of place, barely recognizing her – and now he was talking about some old father who had died.

A part of him wondered if this was even _Tsuna._

For now, he'd just have to watch him and let this play out.


	20. An Ache

Hibari was worried about Tsuna, even if he wouldn't actually say it out loud.

The panic attacks are seemingly calming down, but he knows more memories are popping up – mostly because Tsuna's been _referencing_ them more, name dropping things and talking about the old days…plus…he's gotten more too. Most of his own memories hardly come as shocking flashbacks in the middle of the day like Tsuna, as those seem to only come when something ends up reminding him of a past event. Most of his memories came in his nightmares, as if taunting him of all the mistakes in his past and the people he's hurt.

So, it wasn't a surprise when he practically began sleeping in Tsuna's room every night.

It was lucky for him that his boyfriend (that was so odd to think about, though it made a warm feeling burst in his chest – _Tsuna is his boyfriend_ ) didn't seem to mind. In fact, by the way he would practically grab him in his sleep when he normally leaves at near six in the morning, he had a feeling he enjoys it too.

Maybe at this point he should just ask for sleepovers (it was a little annoying being at Tsuna's house for a few hours, and going back home only to go right back). He knew Tsuna's mom wouldn't really mind, but she might if she ever finds out what their relationship _really_ is.

But mostly, he was worried since he had absolutely no idea what Tsuna's _father_ is like – and by the way Tsuna seemed to outright _hate_ the man he already hated him too.

After all, he knew very well what it was like to hate a family member. And by the way Tsuna has described his past experiences with his dad, he couldn't help but wholeheartedly agree.

O~O~O

After last night, seeing his father and the mess, Tsuna was glad that not only did Hibari come over, but he also came back again near midnight that night to sleep. He was getting quite used to having a warm body next to him when he slept. Maybe too used to it, as it felt odd climbing into bed without the other boy now.

As his dreams flashed by, he hardly remembered them though they felt painfully familiar – an odd mix of the past and present. Of Hibari's face but also his past face, of a woman with red hair and a man with blonde hair, standing hand in hand and smiling at him. There was a village – as big as a city but it was a place he called home. And then he was in a place much like a sewer…standing in front of a huge cage with red eyes staring down at him…

 _Red eyes…_

"TSUNA!"

The shout followed by his door slamming open ripped Tsuna from his confusing dreams, back to his bed and to a world where his father was an annoying man who _woke him up at four in the morning._

"What the _fuck_?" He grumbled, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and wincing at the hallway light suddenly coming into his room. He squinted at his father who was still grinning.

"Want to go catch breakfast?!"

Tsuna scowled, about to open his mouth to answer with a _"no way in hell, old man"_ when there was a grumble next to him, making both him and his father freeze.

 _He had totally forgotten Hibari was there._

Tsuna probably shouldn't be panicking, since he hardly cared what his father thought about him, but it's probably the fact that he's _fourteen_ and someone sneaking into his room to sleep in his bed hardly seemed like an innocent situation.

Besides, he had _no clue_ if his dad would decide to tell his mom or not. And again, he's fourteen and his mom could be strangely protective at the most random things. What if _this_ was one of the things that she decided to be protective about?

The room was silent as Hibari slowly opened his eyes, and squinted as the hallway light hit them. He first looked up at Tsuna, then frowned as he must have seen the panic on Tsuna's face. He turned to the doorway, slowly sitting up, and scowled.

"Oh! Are you Tsuna's friend? When did you come in?"

"Earlier. Now leave before I bite you to death." He practically hissed before laying back down, grabbing Tsuna and pulling him down with him.

Tsuna sighed and glanced back at his father, though his eyes seemed to gleam with _something_ before he closed the door.

"…sorry about him." Tsuna muttered, moving closer to Hibari to try and get back into their comfortable position from before they had woken up.

Hibari hummed and buried his face into his hair. "…don't like him." He muttered sleepily.

"Me either." He sighed, trying to lull himself back to sleep, which wasn't that hard to do since Hibari always seemed eager to rest and the sound of him softly breathing worked as well as a lullaby.

 _Jeez…after two years,_ _that's_ _the first conversation he has with me?_ he couldn't help but think bitterly before sleep came for him.

He woke a few hours later to Lambo's squeals and a cold bed. He grimaced, having a vague memory of waking up to Hibari climbing out his window earlier – he wouldn't be surprised if he was in a bad mood for the rest of the day for getting woken up so rudely.

With a sigh, he decided to ignore the screams of joy from Lambo playing with his father outside – instead he noticed a new weight around his neck. He glanced down – noticing that along with the necklace Hibari had gifted him was another…which held a broken Vongola ring.

"H-How?!" He nearly screamed. When he _hell_ did Reborn get this on him? Well it wasn't _that_ much of a surprise because Reborn always seemed to sneak up on him easily. He groaned, wondering if he should yell at Reborn about this, since this is quite blatantly a target around his neck, when he heard Lambo fall and start crying outside followed by his father offering him "magical water" to stop the pain.

His eyes widened in horror before he practically ran out of his room, nearly tumbling as he went to the screen door and opened it, glaring down his dad just as he was about to pour Lambo a cup of sake.

"Lambo, don't drink anything he gives you!" He immediately said, knowing from experience that his dad wasn't one to hesitate from giving alcohol to minors.

"Hey, Tsuna~!" Iemitsu grinned, as if he wasn't just about to commit a crime. "You've been sleeping ever since Daddy came home…. I thought you were avoiding me and that broke my heart."

He huffed, crossing his arms as he let his past attitude come through. " _I_ wasn't sleeping, old man, _you_ were."

That seemed to shock him for a moment, before he suddenly grinned. "So, how's school? Is that where you met your friend?"

"My…?" A blush broke out across his face as he remembered his father had seen him sleeping next to Hibari. "Er…yeah."

He chuckled. "Ah, I remember being like that in my youth! Sneaking out to see my friends – but I wasn't bold enough to sleep over their house!"

"Um…" A part of him was relieved that his dad only saw them as friends, but he also had the strangest feeling like he was trying to get something out of him about Hibari.

His father gave him a lecherous smirk – not unlike one the Pervy Sage would have anytime he got "research material" before clapping his back with a grin though the force nearly made him fall over. "What's that, Tsuna? You're looking sexy. Isn't that a pendant? Trying to impress a girl?"

"No!" He took a step away, grumbling, "I think this is the _second_ adult to tell me I look sexy in some way." Louder, he huffed, "It's none of your business, old man!" before turning to go find Reborn upstairs and to get ready for school.

O~O~O

Iemitsu's smile dropped as his son's form retreated up the stairs. He really _was_ acting oddly. He's _never_ called him "old man" before! Not to mention the attitude – his Tsuna was sweet, adorable, and a little awkward, not brash and rude.

And then there was that boy who was sleeping in Tsuna's bed…Reborn told them of their relationship earlier, and he could tell the kid had seen quite a few battles. Far more than someone his age should – but that is one of the dangers of being in the mafia.

 _But he wasn't in the mafia before this._ He reminded himself. No, the kid probably ran into gangs but nothing too bad…yet even in the few seconds they met, he could tell he had seen his fair share of death. Is he the reason for Tsuna's sudden change?

It _must_ be, because that could be the only explanation to the drastic change in Tsuna's behavior. But it's not like he could break them up – the kid holds the Cloud ring and he's a huge asset to Tsuna winning against the Varia.

 _Maybe Nana knows what happened to him._ He wondered, with a grimace at having to interview his beloved wife. He'd hate if whatever change was happening to Tsuna affected her too. He loves his wife, it's the reason why he's kept her in the dark about all of this for so long, after all.

So as soon as Tsuna had run out the door, yelling a quick goodbye, he slipped to the living room where his wife was sitting. He slipped into the seat next to her, kissing her cheek and smiling when she squealed in delight.

"Hello, sweetie." She smiled. "I saw you talking to Tsu-kun. How was he? I never get to see him for long in the mornings."

He hesitated. "He was…ok. Nana, have you noticed anything…odd about Tsuna, lately?"

Her smile faltered, turning somber as she looked down at her hands in her lap. "He's…been having panic attacks lately. He tries to hide them by locking himself in the bathroom…and sometimes I think…he doesn't recognize me."

"Doesn't…?" He frowned. That _definitely_ didn't sound good.

"Oh, not in a way like he suddenly got amnesia!" She patted his arm reassuringly. "More like…" She hummed. "More like he's in a daze or a dream. One time I hugged him and he clung to me and burst into tears…" She shook her head. "He looked like he was shocked I was _here_ or something."

"… _he fucking_ _died_ _and he was still a better dad than you were."_ Tsuna's harsh words from last night echoed in his mind. This Tsuna, whoever he was, obviously had some kind of _memories_ where he had grown up without parents. And these…memories…are causing him obvious distress, enough to send him into panic attacks.

"And…" he paused, trying to find how to ask this next question, "his friends…does he seem…closer to one than his others?"

At the change of topics, she visibly brightened. "Oh yes! I haven't told you about his new friends yet, but he met a couple of very nice ones. Especially that boy Hibari, he's practically around all the time! Such a quiet boy, but he and Tsuna seem very attached to each other." She sighed happily, gushing, "I wish I had a friendship like that when I was younger. Sometimes Hibari just comes over and I don't even remember opening the door for him! Strange, hm?"

Her smile was innocent, but Iemitsu remembered in clear detail how he saw Hibari leave out Tsuna's window earlier that morning. Their eyes had met when he was climbing down the tree – and Hibari gave him a scathing glare before walking down the street. So obviously, Hibari had access to Tsuna whenever he wanted, and Tsuna didn't seem to mind at all.

If Hibari is the reason for the change in Tsuna, that's _incredibly_ worrying.

"Thank you for telling me this, dear." He practically cooed as he gave her several kisses on the cheek and neck, enjoying her delighted squeals. Ah, he could fall in love with her all over again. "I'll make sure Tsuna is alright." He promised, and found warmth in his chest at her grateful smile.

"Thank you."

He grinned and stood, leaving the room to go upstairs to Tsuna's room, finding Reborn sitting at the window.

"You're here to ask me about Tsuna." It wasn't a question. Though, he still nodded.

"I missed a lot."

"That's because you've been out of his life for two years." Reborn actually looked a little judgmental, and he at least gave him a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ah, you know our line of work! I can't stay for long."

"Are you going to tell him?"

He waved a hand. "Soon, soon…" he sat on his son's bed, narrowing his eyes. "First I need to figure out what's wrong with him."

Reborn shrugged. "I don't know."

There was a moment of silence as absolute disbelief formed on Iemitsu's face. "You…you _don't know?_ "

The baby assassin seemed as annoyed as the situation was confusing. "That's right. _I don't know._ Tsuna is…good at hiding. I've only found out very little, the only one he talks to about it is Hibari and Hibari is a locked cage by himself."

"Tsuna? Good at hiding?" He had very vivid memories of when Tsuna was younger, attempting to hide during hide and seek and only hiding behind pillows or behind couches. He shook his head. "What _do_ you know, at this point?"

Reborn was silent for a moment. "He is far more caring and passionate about the people around him than I guessed he would be. He used to be a coward but he has moments of complete bravery that make no sense. You've read the report about his last fight, with Rokudou Mukuro, right?" At his nod, he continued, "He seemed to…understand them personally, when they told him about how they were meant to become weapons. He was visibly disturbed and upset like…he had gone through the same. And recently, I learned he has asked someone else for training before. But that can't be true because he went through severe muscle pain after using the Hyper Dying Will."

Iemitsu's brain was reeling. "…I talked to Nana. She said that she noticed sometimes Tsuna will be dazed, like he doesn't recognize her. And about his panic attacks. And…last night he said something to me when he thought I was sleeping. Apparently before me, he had another father, and that father _died_."

Despite Reborn's silence and blank expression, he could tell the hitman was shocked at this new information. "Tsuna…seems to be getting _memories_ of some kind, that are integrating themselves into his personality." Reborn muttered. "He seems to think these memories are his…and in these memories, he didn't have a mother or father and was used as a weapon – or supposed to be since he eventually had to ask for training from someone else."

"And somehow," Iemitsu continued with a grimace, "the kid Hibari is involved, maybe even in the same boat with the memories theory – have you looked in his eyes? He's seen death before. He knows what it's like to have blood on his hands. You can _feel_ it."

Reborn actually seemed amused. "I ignored it because I thought with his attitude he might have accidentally killed someone at some point, but with how Tsuna is acting, it's strange."

"Definitely strange!" Iemitsu whined. "He called me old man this morning! He was so rude!"

Reborn shook his head. "I need to go follow him to school. I'll tell you if I learn more, but keep an eye on him. He seems to lose his guard around you because you're an idiot."

He put a hand to his chest, huffing. "Now _you're_ being rude to me."

Reborn rolled his eyes and promptly left the room. With a sigh, Iemitsu ran a hand through his hair.

It was times like these he wished he made his decision to stay instead of leaving his family behind.

But duty calls, after all. And he can't miss any of them.

O~O~O

Xanxus scowled as he left the meeting room, having just gotten the news that the Vongola ring was split in half. He shouldn't be surprised – he's been a part of the mafia for years now. Sneaky, cunning, _assholes_ , taking what is _rightfully his_. And he hardly had the patience to wait for Squalo to come back – he was far too angry.

Either way, didn't he deserve it? After _so many years_ of failing at finding what he's needed for so long? Can't he have this? Can't he just want something and _get it_ for _one damn time_?

With a grimace, he slipped into his bathroom which seemed to be the only place he could find the privacy to cool down. He leaned against the sink, taking a deep breath and watching as his eyes glowed a dark red. He gritted his teeth as familiar _anger_ and _frustration_ rose in him.

"After so many years of this stupid fucking _ache,_ can't I just have one _fucking nice thing_?" He grumbled to himself, clenching his chest. Though, out of a habit that's been there for too long, he still reached out, trying to find something, _someone_.

But it wasn't there. It never will be. It hasn't been there for a long time. And he's damn near given up on trying to look.

" _He's not coming back."_ The harsh words of one of his siblings, long ago, had told him. Long before he joined Vongola. _Long_ before he looked like _this_. _"He's human. Humans are tricky and fickle. Mine hasn't come back. Yours won't either."_

"Fuck you." He spat at the memory, growling lowly. Though he hated it. He hated that it was _the truth_. He wasn't coming back. The damn idiot who smiled too wide and made too big of promises he _couldn't_ keep would never come back. He's been gone too long.

" _I'll find you too, I promise."_

"Liar." He muttered, though a fond smile crosses his lips. "God…you're such a _liar,_ Naruto."

But yet again…

…he found himself reaching out.

O~O~O

Tsuna stopped in his tracks, though his mind was reeling, his heart heavy and he's even more worried than he's ever been, he still felt…something. He paused, turning to look around.

He had…felt something…didn't he?

"Tsuna? You alright?"

He glanced back at his friends, and gave them a small, reassuring smile. "I'm fine, don't worry." He turned back again. He had sworn…

No…

He shook his head and turned to his friends. "It was nothing."

Still, when they weren't looking talking amongst themselves about the new rings they had gotten, almost on instinct, one of his hands wandered to his stomach. _Still I…thought I felt…_

* * *

 **Oh I'm sure you guys have figured out who Xanxus is. (You don't know how long I've wanted to get to that part. I was so excited writing it) And it seems like Iemitsu and Reborn are onto Tsuna and Hibari now too.**

 **But now that we've established everything, we can finally slip into the training portion of this arc. And we _all_ know that Tsuna definitely needs training (especially since he really wants to go back to how powerful he was as Naruto). **

**Well, I'll see you guys next week with the next chapter!**


	21. Getting Stronger

**Oh my god guys I'm _so sorry_ this is so late! I did not foresee my parents taking away my laptop for like a _month_ so I made sure to do this quickly as soon as I got it back. **

* * *

Tsuna sighed to himself, leaning against a nearby wall as he tried to take all of this new information in. His friends had just run off after the explanation; the two of them were adamant about starting their training immediately. Tsuna had a feeling it had to do with the easy defeat Squalo had handed them. But, he was still trying to wrap his head around everything with the rings. Though on some level he found it strangely easy to accept that a group of people were trying to find him and kill him for something he had ( _Stupid Akatsuki._ He couldn't help but grumble to himself) though it was involving other people that he had a problem with.

He _always_ had a problem with other people getting involved.

"Are you done grumbling, Tsuna?" Reborn was glancing up at him. "We don't have a lot of time for you to be doing this."

Tsuna huffed, about to snap back at him only for his mind to remind him – he finally had an _excuse_ to get better training that focused on more than his Intuition. He nearly began vibrating, feeling like his young past-self going up to Pervy Sage to excitedly ask to learn a new technique.

"We're going to train now, right?" An antsy feeling prickled under his skin, wanting to move and _go_.

"You're eager." Reborn seemed to note, pulling out a gun, as well as numerous Dying Will Bullets.

 _Ah crap…_ He winced. That was the downside – getting shot. It wasn't at all like the feeling of getting stabbed. ( _He inwardly cringed, remembering the feeling of dying or being stabbed from the many clones he could create in the past. It was much easier to ignore back then as it was more of an echo of a feeling._ )

"I'm not really… _that_ eager." He stepped back, trying not to focus on the fact that the barrel of the gun was pointed right at his forehead.

In answer to his reluctance, Reborn merely began to squeeze the trigger.

"Please die."

The familiar sound of a gunshot rang down the street, and before Tsuna could hit the ground, a bright orange flame erupted on his forehead.

" _REBORN_! I will train as if I were to die!" He nearly growled before running off in whatever direction his flame-filled body was driving him, closely followed by the hitman who seemed almost amused at this.

"As long as those memories don't get in the way, he should be fine." Reborn muttered to himself, chasing Tsuna towards the forests near the end of town.

O~O~O

Hibari rubbed the new ring he had found on the table in the reception room – he hadn't bothered to throw it out mostly as he was sure no one would have left it so obviously. It was placed very noticeably right where he normally sits, so it was definitely for him, and he wasn't exactly sure what to make of it. It didn't seem to be anything that would actually hurt him, but at the same time he knew never to put his guard down.

Which is why he hasn't slipped it on his finger just yet.

The door to the room slipped open, and he looked to the side to see a man who wasn't at all familiar to him, with blonde hair and dark eyes. Next to him was another man in a suit, but he didn't pay much attention to him since he stood a step or two behind him and was very obviously not the boss in the situation.

"You're Hibari Kyoya, right?"

He narrowed his eyes, slipping the ring from in-between his fingers to the palm of his hand. Anyone he didn't know who knew himusually spelled trouble in the past.

"…And you are?" He asked carefully, watching the man's easy-going smile.

"I'm like Tsuna's big brother and also an acquaintance of Reborn," at Tsuna's name, Hibari's hand twitched. Faintly, he tried to remember anyone Tsuna's told him about who fit the description of the man in front of him. "I want to talk to you about the ring with the cloud symbol on it."

He should have known the ring would have something to do with Tsuna. Things always seemed to go back to him.

"Give me your name." He demanded, standing up. His hands slipped towards his tonfa. If he was an acquaintance of Reborn, then he might be as strong as him. And he couldn't help but itch for a fight against someone who could give him a challenge.

The man seemed surprised at the sudden demand, but gave him a small grin. "Dino."

For a moment, the name came as nothing but a blank to him. Then he remembered, faintly, how Tsuna once mentioned someone named "Dino" a while ago. Mostly in passing. He didn't seem to have anything negative against him either.

…hopefully he won't be mad if he bites him to death.

"Before you tell me everything I need to know about this ring…" He pocketed it, taking his tonfa instead. "I want to see just how strong you are."

He didn't seem that surprised about this, merely taking out his own weapon which seemed to be a whip.

"I was told you'd be a problematic kid…fine. This just makes things a bit faster."

Hibari smirked.

Then he lunged.

O~O~O

By time the Dying Will Flames wore off, Tsuna found himself climbing up a cliff with absolutely no idea how he got there. So, of course, his first instinct was to scream.

"HOW THE HELL?!" He felt the grip he had on the rocks slipping. The mittens were definitely _not_ helping him.

"You came all the way here with your Dying Will." Reborn calmly stated from above him. Tsuna could swear from where he was that the baby had a small smirk on his face. "It seemed like you instinctively knew what to do. Now climb." Tsuna blinked, almost expecting that instead of Reborn, a silver haired man with most of his face covered was sitting there, reading a small book with absolute boredom.

He groaned, and tried to move, only to find his grip slip further.

 _Oh no._

The rock under his mitten-covered fingers broke and he let out a scream as the familiar sensation of falling came over him, before his flailing body hit the river and he was underwater.

He scrambled to swim to the top, wet, disgruntled, and coughing out a lung trying to get the water he had accidentally inhaled out of his body.

"You still have 100 meters to go." Reborn un-empathetic voice came from right next to him, on the dry rock. "If this goes on, you won't be able to fight the Varia."

"Fuck you, Kakashi-sensei." He grumbled, coughing out more water.

He expected a chuckle or a flick to the forehead in response along with a small scolding for his language, in which he probably would have pouted and whined to his sensei some more about how unfair he was being to him. Because even if he's a "kid" he's heard more curses thrown his way than an adult ninja has.

But that didn't happen. And his heart dropped in his chest as he realized instead of an adult man there was a baby in front of him. Staring at him with a frown.

"…who's Kakashi?" Reborn asked suddenly, the stare that followed was as if he was trying to read his mind. Tsuna was almost afraid he could sometimes.

"…no one." He looked away, the lie was bitter on his tongue.

He hadn't realized how much he missed his past.

"A-Anyway, let's just continue with training, right? I have to fight the Varia so…" He tried to stumble past the awkwardness of accidentally mixing the present with the past once again. Reborn seemed to take pity on him for the moment.

"We have two days." Reborn suddenly said, turning to the cliff. "You need to make sure you can climb that cliff in 2 days."

Tsuna blinked, looking from Reborn to the cliff, which seemed much taller than a second ago. Self-doubt hit him like a truck. Climb _that_? In _two days_? He was scrawnier than his old self; he doesn't run around and climb up to the top of buildings anymore. Yet Reborn wanted him to climb up that cliff?

 _Stop that._ He scolded himself. _If you could master Rasengan in a week, you can do this._

"…what does climbing up a cliff have to do with Dying Will?"

Reborn sighed before explaining, quite bluntly, how the first boss of the Vongola did the exact same thing, as he had used gloves to fight similar to the ones Tsuna had. So, he would be learning and training the exact same way.

Tsuna let out a sigh and winced when he felt the familiar prickling of muscle pain start to creep up on him.

"…how am I supposed to do this when I keep getting these _annoying muscle pains_?"

"Easy. That's what the bullets are for."

And before he could object to it, he was once again getting shot in the forehead, his Will forcing him to rest to fight off the pains.

O~O~O

Iemitsu trusts Reborn – really, he does. But, at the same time, he was still incredibly worried about his son.

So, that day after throwing on his hard hat and grabbing his pickaxe (trust him when he says they are very important to his overall disguise) he followed the duo out to the river and hid himself among the trees.

He had never seen Tsuna under the Dying Will bullet before, but he found it incredibly amusing how he went from mild to over the top in near an instant. A part of him wished he didn't have to get shot every time (the feeling of _dying_ wasn't exactly painless after all) but it was a necessary evil at this point. Tsuna did need to get stronger.

Tsuna fell from the cliff and Iemitsu almost laughed, nearly missing how Reborn easily jumped down and ended up next to Tsuna, saying something to him. Tsuna seemed to have replied with something _odd_ because Reborn, at once, froze, and stared at him.

 _Did he get another memory?_ He watched intently. Even Tsuna seemed frozen as he realized what he had done. But there was no panic attack. Nothing that showed distress – and so Reborn moved on. But Iemitsu couldn't help but grimace.

When Tsuna began to rest, Reborn slipped off to join him in the trees.

"Tsuna is definitely getting memories. He called me by a name I never heard before." Reborn said bluntly as soon as they were out of hearing distance. "His eyes were glazed over, and I think he believed he was somewhere else."

"What did he call you?"

"Kakashi-sensei." He glanced back to where Tsuna was laying, the Dying Will Flame still bright on his forehead. "…one time he called Kyoko another name; Sakura."

They were both names Iemitsu had never heard before. And by the annoyance in his features, it was obvious Reborn had never heard them either.

"…I'm going to keep a record of names." Reborn said suddenly. "And nicknames. Anything he mentions. Then you are going to research them, and see if they connect to anyone."

Iemitsu immediately agreed to this.

Maybe if they found out the reason behind it, they could stop Tsuna from getting any more memories.

O~O~O

Hibari loved a challenge. In this new life he welcomed it, because he found there were just too many people who couldn't hold a fight against him for more than a second. (He refused to count Pineapple in this, mostly because he hated him and he hated the fact that the first time they met he had used illusions)

Dino was practically a sigh of relief from the first moment they started to fight. He was fast, crafty, and did not pull back his punches. The whip he used was a far more valuable weapon than Hibari, at first, thought it would be (thinking back on his past, where a blonde man fought him using clay, he decided that maybe he shouldn't underestimate weapons as he usually does).

But Dino also seemed to be very adamant about training him.

After a short battle in which Hibari deemed him "not an herbivore, but not a carnivore either" (He had found amusement in the way Dino had sputtered in surprise) they had moved to the roof where Dino gave him a basic rundown of the rings, their significance, and their connection to Tsuna.

Almost at once, he wanted to say no. He would rather fight Dino again than go through training.

The last time he was trained was by a man who was more snake than human and the three years he spent with him was filled with pain and hearing screams at night and crushing his own emotions. Purely so he would stop wishing to be back with his sunshine and instead have the blood of his brother on his hands.

But now, there wasn't that. He didn't have to stay away from Tsuna for this training. He wouldn't have to feel unnecessary pain or hear it being inflicted.

Still he wanted a fight.

So instead of saying no, he told him he'd keep biting until he proved he could train him properly.

It seemed to please him, getting to train him in a roundabout way; and Hibari was getting the fight he wanted.

O~O~O

Iemitsu found he was too late to warn Dino about how problematic Hibari may end up being – they were already fighting on the roof of the school by time he arrived.

Despite knowing that he would learn nothing from watching, he found himself lingering anyway.

Hibari fought like a warrior, he realized very quickly. He fought like it was normal for his life to be on the line. He fought like he refused to be bored from a simple battle.

And Iemitsu was bitter to admit that he was definitely perfect for the position of the Cloud.

But he showed no signs of having different memories other than the way he fought. And in a way, Iemitsu found himself disappointed at that realization. It meant Tsuna was the only one suffering, only telling this violent boy his secrets and trusting him with them.

Iemitsu left them to their battle with a small frown.

They would focus on Tsuna then.

O~O~O

Tsuna was actually surprised at how well his training was going. It was repetitive – climbing, falling, and resting. He had grown a bit of a pain tolerance to the rocks as they had quickly begun to cut into his fingers. And he didn't always hit the river when he would fall.

Sometimes when he would climb, he wondered how his friends were doing with their own training. At some point, Haru came (she told him all about how Hana and Kyoko were hanging out with her more, and how pretty she found Kyoko. She kept blushing as she talked about how she and Kyoko had hung out for an entire day after doing homework together. He didn't really put together why) and at another, he ran into Gokudera while he was doing dangerous training, nearly killing himself in the process. At the very least Shamal seemed to have stepped in, and Reborn told him he was fine.

But he still hadn't heard from Yamamoto. All he had gotten was a text saying he was getting stronger from home and not to worry about him.

After the first day had gone and the sun was down, he had gone home and immediately headed up to his room to avoid his dad. The old man was asleep, so it was fine.

Hibari had shown up sometime around midnight, with bandages on and grumbling softly about a blonde who he was fighting (Tsuna figured he meant training, but wasn't going to admit it). They didn't ask each other about their injuries, they were both just relieved to get rest.

Once again, Tsuna was surprised to find the cuts were still there the next morning.

Out loud, he nearly asked a grouchy old fox why he wasn't helping.

It took him nearly twenty minutes to keep himself from dissolving into sobs a second afterwards.

( _Who the hell is the "Fox?" Why can't I remember him fast enough?_ )

It took him until that afternoon to finally get to the top of the cliff, and he felt a huge sense of accomplishment once he did so.

"There. You passed the first step." Reborn had "congratulated" him as soon as he was there, barely able to catch his breath. "So, we'll move onto the second step."

"Let me rest a bit!" He bit his tongue from letting "Kakashi-sensei" from slipping out. His nonchalant attitude was very reminiscent of the man. He couldn't help but miss the warmth that was also usually there as well. Reborn was oddly cold in comparison to his other two mentors.

"We don't have time for you to rest." He said bluntly.

Tsuna opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when a familiar voice greeted him.

"Lord Sawada!" He looked up to see Basil, out of the hospital and smiling at him. "Impressive how thou hath reacheth the second step!"

"Basil-kun…" He couldn't help but internally let out a sigh at the strange old language he used. Still, he stood in front of him, offering the boy a smile. "Is your body alright?"

"Yes. Thanks to Lord Romario and Master's medicine, I feel much better."

"So…why are you here?"

"I've come to assist thou with thine training."

Tsuna immediately looked to Reborn for clarification.

"The second step is sparring. You'll understand the reason later. If you knock Basil out, you pass."

" _What_?"

Without much else explanation, Basil swallowed a pill and the Dying Will Flame appeared on his forehead.

"I request a match."

 _Ok…I need to knock him out. Ok. Easy. I've fought worse. Sure._

A gunshot rang out, and once again Tsuna yelled " _REBORN!"_

It was not easy.

Basil was very strong, and it had been a while since Tsuna last fought someone. His first time in this life was Mukuro. The last in his previous life was…was…

( _Who killed him again?_ )

Fighting was distracting. Sparing was distracting. Dying Will was distracting; and honestly, at this point, Tsuna welcomed things that were distracting. Memories were starting to merge with reality like it did back when Mukuro was a threat. He hated it and he was pretty sure Kaka-Reborn was _noticing_. Sure, he had promised when this first happened that he and Hibari would share what was going on but…

He nearly didn't dodge a punch.

That night he went home tired, and covered in cuts and bruises. He was pretty sure since the guests didn't act like anything was wrong, his mom didn't either. But he did notice her glancing at his bandages more than once in worry.

Hibari did the same, but instead of just staring he kissed them and muttered something Tsuna couldn't make out, as he was too tired to try and decipher it.

Sleeping next to Hibari was another welcomed distraction.

O~O~O

The rings were fake.

The rings were a _fucking fake._

Xanxus wished he had access to his full form (even if it would leave him unconscious for a long time) because he wanted to run to Japan and have an all-out rampage against those _fuckers._

" _Jeez, watch your fucking language, you grouchy old fox."_ Naruto's teasing voice came to mind, followed by his wide foxlike grin and loud laughter. He pushed it away. No matter how fucking _long_ it was, it seemed that he would always be able to remember exactly how he acted and he hated it.

But the itch of his fingers to punch something or someone was still there, no matter how calm he seemed on the outside.

He called for Squalo.

If he was being honest, he didn't really have much _against_ Squalo. It was just that his damn smirk was annoying sometimes with how it made him stare and his hair was too long because it made him look whenever he passed by. And his loudness could be heard wherever he was, not because he was _listening_ for it, but he had heightened senses and it was just easy to hear.

And now this dumbass grabbed fakes and handed it to him as if they were real.

As soon as the asshole began to boast, he slammed his head on the table, finding some satisfaction when he saw his nose bleeding, and ignored the guilt right afterwards.

"What the _hell_!?"

"It's a fake." He replied bluntly, crushing the half of the ring in-between his pointer finger and thumb. He ignored Squalo's shocked look as he walked out of the room, cursing Iemitsu for fooling him like this.

It's been a long time since he's let hatred like this bubble and fill inside him.

( _He ignored the disappointed but determined frown of Naruto staring at him. "Just wait for me." His voice said. "I'll be there soon."_ )

* * *

 **So I added a little Naruto headcannon in there about Naruto's clones. I mean, I know it was written in during Shippuden that Naruto gets the memories of the clones when they disappear (I will forever rant about how a 13 year old kid would notice if he's getting hundreds of memories even if he's supposed to be written as an idiot). But I began to wonder if he remembers how that clone "dies" cause there are some points where they aren't just punched they're stabbed by kunai or taken out by a jutsu (for example when Sasuke pretty much burned them all to "death"). So I figured Naruto would somewhat remember that pain of "dying" in such a way.**

 **(Don't worry if you guys don't particularly like this headcannon. I believe it will only be mentioned a few times. Maybe even not at all since I find myself unpredictable with what I mention)**

 **...By the way I hope you guys don't mind Xanxus (Kurama)/Squalo. I have a soft spot for that ship and I wanted to slip it in there. Along with the Haru/Kyoko that will be happening in the background.**

 **Gosh well I apologize again for not getting this chapter to you guys sooner. I will make sure to update next week! See you then!**


	22. Sudden Arrival

Japan felt different from Italy. It was familiar, obviously, since it was the place Xanxus used to live in long ago. He supposed he couldn't help but feel a connection to the place he called home thousands of years ago. In fact, he looked back fondly on those days where he was roaming free on the lands (sure that was very short lived, but he was free now, even if he didn't have full access to his usual form).

It was quiet. The whole trip was quieter than usual. He blamed himself for that – he had gotten _somewhat_ better at controlling his temper ( _Naruto laughed at him, "You?! Control your temper?! That's such bullshit!"_ ) so he was fairly sure his ring bearers didn't want to see another outburst.

(Squalo's nose stopped bleeding at least. Not that he was looking.)

As they travelled to where they were told the boy who now held his ring, Tsunayoshi Sawada, lived, he couldn't help but realize how much it really had changed. It definitely wasn't the place Naruto loved so many years ago. But things change. He changed.

But for a moment, as they got closer, he froze, feeling a sort of _pang_ in his chest. Something so…familiar. _Someone_ familiar.

…no. No, he was imagining things.

(Miles away, Tsuna felt the same thing. Regrettably, he was too busy training to notice and even if he did, he would have also brushed it off as nothing.)

O~O~O

It took a little while for Tsuna to finally knock Basil out, and afterwards he felt an enormous sense of accomplishment (he didn't actually think he would get stronger so quickly in this new life). But he was still incredibly tired, in his boxers, and covered in bruises and cuts – half of which that would leave more scars.

Basically, he wanted to _rest._ He wanted to change into one of his huge sweaters and call Hibari over and cuddle with him until they both fall asleep. Maybe it was a bit selfish of him but he really was _exhausted_.

So, he nearly sighed aloud in relief when Reborn decided for them to go back home, even if it only was because Reborn was hungry. (But that's fine. Food takes priority, especially when he was pretty sure his mom was making ramen.) Besides, he also mentioned something about Basil's Master joining them, and Tsuna couldn't help but feel incredibly curious about the mysterious man Basil keeps mentioning. He couldn't help but imagine someone who's almost like Jiraiya – considering with every mention of him he couldn't help but get the worst first impression.

( _He could remember back when he refused to call Jiraiya by his proper title when talking about him to other people. They would get the strangest almost disgusted look on their faces before realizing who he was talking about. It was fairly hilarious at the time._ )

"I'm home—" Tsuna froze when he saw Iemitsu sitting in front of him in his usual outfit, smiling as if for the past couple of days, he hasn't been sleeping every time Tsuna comes home. His Intuition buzzed loudly in the back of his head, nearly giving him a headache coupled with the terrible feeling he got just from the situation. "D-Dad…" He sputtered in surprise. "You're awake…" He was already dreading the oncoming conversation he was sure to awkwardly force on him. "…are you going somewhere?" _Please say yes. Please say yes._ He couldn't help but beg to himself.

"Yep." Shadows went over his face, his voice uncharacteristically serious as he continued, "An uninvited guest came earlier than expected."

Tsuna frowned, glancing between Basil and Reborn, suddenly feeling terribly out of the loop as they obviously seemed to understand whatever he was talking about.

"Is that true, Iemitsu?" Reborn stepped up to him. Tsuna's frown deepened at the familiar way Reborn seemed to speak to him.

 _They know each other…_ He suddenly realized, his heart pounding in his chest, the familiar feeling of _panic_ as he was slowly putting together the pieces.

"I got the information from my agent in the main land, so there's no mistake." Iemitsu continued, not seeming to notice the distress on Tsuna's face.

"It seems too fast." Reborn answered with obvious skepticism, glancing back at Tsuna but he wasn't looking at him, he was staring at his father as realization, panic, and _anger_ was starting to appear.

"Lord Sawada?" Basil whispered to him. He didn't hear him. He was starting to shake.

"It _is_ unexpected to have the fake rings discovered this fast." Iemitsu sighed, starting to stand. "I assume it was due to Xanxus's extreme Intuition…"

" _How long_?"

The room seemed to freeze. Tsuna was standing, shaking and clenching his fists, holding back tears that threatened to spill.

( _He's your father. He was supposed to love and protect you. He did this. He betrayed you. He betrayed your trust._ )

"How long have you known? How long have you known Reborn? _How long have you been in the mafia_?" Tsuna's voice was dangerously low, his eyes to Iemitsu's shoes.

"…Tsuna…" Iemitsu took a deep breath, glancing away from his son. "…lower your voice or your mom—"

" _ANSWER ME._ " He hadn't meant to yell, but the tears were spilling down and he was honestly done with whatever bull Iemitsu would try to pull on him next. He glared at his father, his vision shifting. His mind was jumbled.

He blinked and suddenly he was in a sewer, standing in front of a cage ( _Whoareyouwhoareyouwhoareyou_ ) and the man who he was supposed to call his father was standing in front of him ( _He did this! He betrayed you! He's the reason they glare at you! He's the reason you were lonely for years!_ ).

"…I've always been in the mafia. Before you were born." He answered softly. ( _The Fourth Hokage is your father._ His mind whispered. _Your own father condemned you to hell._ )

He didn't realize he was aiming to punch him in the face until he felt his fist in Iemitsu's (the Fourth's?) palm. His vision was blurred by memory and reality and the tears pouring down his face. He tried to punch him with his other hand but that was grabbed too and without much effort, his arms were retrained to his sides.

" _Let go of me!_ "He near growled as he tried to pull his arms out of his father's grip. " _You fucking bastard let GO of me!"_

"Tsuna! Tsuna, calm down!" He didn't register who was yelling. His mind and vision was blurred. He thrashed even more, trying to attack his father. Just to make him feel a _fraction_ of what he was feeling.

"Do you _know what I went through_?" He was half yelling, half babbling. If he wouldn't get through to him with his fists maybe he could do it with his words. "Do you know _what I had to go through_ for _sixteen_ _fucking years_?! How terrible I felt living without a father?! How everyone treated me because of what you _fucking_ did?! I was alone for most of my life because of you! Everyone _hated_ me because of what…what you…" Slowly, he stopped resisting, just letting himself sob as he was let go, and he fell to his knees. "I…I…" He tried to settle his memories, knowing they were blurring dangerously. He tried to catch his breath but he _couldn't_.

"Tsuna."

Someone familiar had their hands on his shoulders, and moving them slowly to cup his cheeks. "Tsuna." The person repeated, their voice soothing. "You're hyperventilating. You need to calm down."

"C-Can't…can't…" He tried to look up at the person. He saw blonde hair and brown eyes. "T-Tsunade…?"

"Just breathe." The woman in front of him ( _It's the old lady Tsunade isn't it?_ ) muttered, hardly hesitating. "Listen to my breathing and copy it, ok? In…and out…"

He tried to follow her instructions, and soon found his own sobbing had gone down to soft crying. As his breathing managed to follow Tsunade's – no _not_ Tsunade – in front of him was Bianchi, kneeling with him and rubbing his back, his vision was getting clearer.

It was silent as he tried to completely stop crying. Complete _embarrassment_ was bubbling up instead. He hardly liked for people to see him crying, and he actually had to be calmed down. Bianchi pulled him closer, now hugging him. He didn't see her glaring at Iemitsu over him.

"Are you ok, Tsuna?" Bianchi muttered in his hair.

"Other than the fact that I completely embarrassed myself?" He muttered back. "I'm fine."

She chuckled. "Can you stand?"

He was a little shaky, but he did manage to stand, and wiped away his remaining tears. His mind started going back over what he had practically screamed at Iemitsu and his blood ran cold.

How the hell was he going to explain away _that_?

"Tsuna? Are you…ok now?"

Tsuna glanced back at his father, only to remember his feelings of anger and he glared venomously at him. He didn't flinch, but Tsuna wasn't expecting for him to. Though when he glanced up and suddenly _did,_ he looked up as well and saw Bianchi glaring over him, her glare far more venomous and, frankly, scarier. Her arm, which was around him, pulled him closer to her.

"Well it's only because of _you_ he had that meltdown…" Her voice was as dangerous as her cooking. " _What happened?"_

Tsuna blinked in surprise, though against his dad, her support definitely was not unwanted.

Iemitsu tried to look calm, but he noticed the annoyed glint in his eyes. "Bianchi, we don't have time for this. The Varia have arrived to Japan and the Thunder unit is first. They will go after the Thunder Guardian. A _child_." At the mention of Lambo, Tsuna's mouth dropped open, while Bianchi just vaguely stiffened. The motion was hardly noticeable to anyone who wasn't touching her. "He's incredibly inexperienced so Tsuna needs to go and protect him. I will call the other Guardians to go help him –"

"Fine." Tsuna stepped out of Bianchi's grip, and she let him. Despite feeling drained he still managed to glare up at Iemitsu (god he hated being short). "I'm going. But _I'm_ calling Hibari. He doesn't like you." _He doesn't like a lot of people, but details._ He thought to himself, nearly smiling as he imagined Hibari just hanging up on his father. "And we're finishing this conversation later. Because you've been bullshitting me and mom for _years_ , old man." His eyes met his father's, frowning. "…she doesn't know, right?"

He shook his head. "No. She doesn't. And you won't tell her, will you?"

"She'd never let me out of the house." Tsuna muttered softly, fondness on the edge of his voice.

Iemitsu nodded as well, a fondness in his eyes as well before he turned to Basil. "Come, Basil, let's go."

He nodded. "Yes Master." His eyes flickered over to Tsuna in concern, but Tsuna turned away, his blood ran cold.

 _He's probably spent more time with his student than his own son._ He couldn't help but realize bitterly. He turned to Bianchi, who was frowning as Iemitsu and Basil left.

"…thanks. For helping me."

Bianchi blinked down at him before smirking and ruffling his hair. ( _Tsunade smiled as she ruffled his hair. "Brat." She muttered fondly._ ) "I told you, I have to kill you, so I need to make sure you're healthy before then."

He couldn't help but let out a laugh, somehow used to her strange ways of showing she cared. He gave her a smile before turning to Reborn, nodding to him before walking out the door.

He could feel Reborn's eyes on him the entire time. There was no way the hitman was just going to leave this alone.

…God, he has a lot to explain later.

Hibari answered quickly when he called.

" _What is it Tsuna? I'm in the middle of something."_ He heard a familiar voice in the background, but he ignored it for the moment, focusing on jogging and searching the street for the familiar cow-themed onesie.

"There's an emergency. Lambo's in trouble."

"… _who?"_

"One of the kids!" He nearly groaned. Of _course,_ Hibari wouldn't remember him. "You know, lots of hair, carries bombs, cries all the time, wears a cow onesie?"

Hibari was silent on the other end for a split moment. _"Oh. The annoying one."_

"All of them are the 'annoying one' to you." Tsuna nearly laughed. He probably would have any other time. "I just need your help to find him. The Varia came early."

Hibari was silent again, obviously tense. "…I'll be there in a minute."

"Thank you." He sighed in relief before hanging up and pocketing his phone, going back to looking down the street, trying to find any sign of Lambo.

"Tsuna-kun!" A familiar voice called behind him. He stopped to turn around, and was almost relieved to see Haru and Kyoko together, as they usually hung out with the kids far more than he did, but they both looked too upset for his spirits to be lifted.

"Kyoko, have you seen Lambo?" He immediately asked.

She frowned and shook her head. "We were looking for him, Fuuta and Ipin. We lost them earlier…"

"Oh no…so they aren't home like we hoped…" Haru looked almost ready to cry with worry.

"Don't worry, I'll go find them so you two get home, ok?" He quickly tried to sooth them. "I need to handle this. Besides, once they get hungry they'll end up wandering back home anyway." He gave Haru a meaningful look, knowing she was the only one of the two who actually _knew_ about all these things with the mafia.

Her eyes widened in understanding before she turned to Kyoko. "How about we head home? Tsuna-san can call us later to tell us when he finds them!"

She still looked extremely worried, but she nodded slowly and Tsuna watched as the two of them disappeared down the street together.

As soon as they were out of his sight, he turned and immediately began running.

Even if Lambo was a little annoying he would _never_ forgive himself if the little kid got hurt.

It was a scream that alerted him.

He immediately followed the scream to find the three kids, Fuuta, Lambo, and Ipin being chased by a man wearing all black, holding a katana.

"Guys!" He yelled, starting to jog over when there was _movement_ , followed by a sudden collision and the man flew into the air, far past the houses and he was sure to have a very painful landing. Tsuna turned, following where the blow came from and relief burst in his chest when he saw Ryohei.

"Vongola Famigilia's Guardian of the Sun and Colonnello's best disciple, Ryohei Sasagawa, is here!" He announced, and Tsuna sighed aloud in relief.

"Big brother! Just in time…!" A boy with a bowl-cut hair flashed in the back of his mind, almost making him want to laugh with the same relief.

"Not yet." Reborn interrupted, just as yet another man wearing black jumped out, only to get thrown away – this time by the slash of a sword. A third followed, and was met with an explosion.

Yamamoto and Gokudera had arrived.

Tsuna near laughed aloud in pure relief, jogging over. "Everyone!"

A very faint grunt made Tsuna pause, he just barely saw Gokudera roll his eyes and Yamamoto's expression brightened before he waved.

"Hey, Hibari!"

"You're late." Gokudera huffed.

Tsuna whirled around, just barely stopping himself from hugging the boy in front of him. "Hibari!"

The taller boy huffed – he was holding his tonfa and wearing what seemed to be a dark blue sleeveless turtleneck with a sweater and jeans, holding his tonfa. Even after knowing Hibari for a while, it was still strangely odd seeing him out of his school uniform. "…it looks like I wasn't needed."

"Yeah you sure weren't." Gokudera huffed.

"Dera," Yamamoto nudged him.

Tsuna ignored him and instead kept his smile at Hibari. "Still, you came."

He shrugged, looking away but only Tsuna noticed the small blush on his cheeks.

Tsuna turned away from his boyfriend, instead going over to the kids to make sure they were ok. Fuuta was fine, just shaken up, Ipin was scratched up, possibly from fighting them. But Lambo, the little brat, was absolutely unharmed and was now whining about food and getting a piggy back.

"I swear!" Tsuna grumbled. "You almost get killed and you're more worried about food!"

Gokudera scowled, practically grinding his teeth together. "I can't believe this idiot got a ring…"

Like usual, Yamamoto merely smiled and patted Gokudera's shoulder. "Oh, come on, Dera, it's fine. At least he's safe."

 _Since when did he call him Dera to his face?_ Tsuna wondered, noting faintly how Gokudera didn't seem to not only mind he seemed to step closer to him.

 _Interesting._

Hibari huffed. "If we're done, you're all crowding and I'm going."

"Wait a second." Tsuna immediately grabbed his hand. "If you're going at least come to my house…"

"Right! We can celebrate at your place for the easy victory!" Ryohei grinned.

"That's…that's not…" Tsuna sputtered, blushing as he realized he would probably have to explain he wanted Hibari at his house alone (which, already, held embarrassing implications he was sure to be teased over). But, (for once) Reborn saved him.

"You're thinking too easily." The hitman still seemed troubled. "They're just underlings of the Varia."

As Reborn finished explaining, another man wearing all black, carrying what looked like various swords on his back. He was silent as he took in the scene, looking at the downed men. "So, you guys did that." His eyes turned to Lambo, who grabbed onto Tsuna's pants leg in fear. "My opponent who wields the ring of thunder is the kid with the perm…"

Tsuna immediately dug into his pockets for his gloves, as the man grabbed for two of the swords on his back.

"If you interrupt, I'll eliminate you all."

Everyone immediately settled into a battle-ready position, Tsuna subtly pulled Lambo off his leg to have him go behind him.

"Hold it, Levi!"

A couple more people joined the man – Levi. Tsuna jolted as he felt something almost _grab_ at his heart. He winced silently, holding himself back from rubbing his chest.

"Hey!" The long-haired man, Squalo, stepped out from behind them with one of the angriest grins Tsuna has ever seen. "How _dare_ you trick me you piece of trash!"

Gokudera growled, while Yamamoto narrowed his eyes, his grip on his sword tightened.

"Which one of you wields the ring of Rain?" He demanded.

"Me." Yamamoto immediately spoke up; his dangerously serious expression hadn't changed.

Squalo's grin grew bloodthirsty. "Oh, it's _you_. _Three seconds_. I'll slice you up in _three seconds_."

Hibari, from the right side of Tsuna, narrowed his eyes. "…I'll bite all of them to death."

Tsuna did not doubt him.

Though the strange pain that bloomed in his chest seemed to heighten as a man came forward, putting a hand on Squalo's shoulder and moving to the front.

The leader.

"There he is…" Reborn muttered. "I thought that the day I see him again would never come. Xanxus."

A man – Xanxus - stood before them, practically covered in scars and glowing red eyes glared Tsuna down.

The pain _burst_ in his chest, but the only thing he had to show for it with a slight grimace. His vision was shifting. One second, he was looking up at Xanxus and the other, he was looking up at a huge cage, with a demon fox glaring down.

"What…the hell…?" He muttered, breaking Xanxus's gaze, trying to catch his breath as he felt tears prickling in his eyes. ( _Kyuubi?_ )

"Tsuna?" Hibari muttered next to him, seeming worried this was another memory.

Tsuna shook his head. "Later." He muttered back. There was too much to explain right now. Far too much.

"Tsunayoshi Sawada… _Die_." Xanxus was glaring him down like just that would be enough to kill him. ( _"If our lives weren't literally tied together I would kill you." The Kyuubi grumbled_ )

Before he could do anything, a pickaxe found itself stuck in the ground in front of him, thrown like it was a kunai.

"Hold it, Xanxus. That's enough." A familiar voice said. "From here on, I'll take charge of things." Iemitsu said, walking up to them with Basil right behind him.

" _Old man_?!" He didn't notice Xanxus glance at him in surprise before turning back to face his dad.

"…I'm going to bite him to death." Hibari muttered under his breath with the realization of what this was implying.

"I'll join you." Tsuna muttered back, his anger was still fresh. And though he still wanted to march over and punch his dad in the face, he knew that right now he probably had to keep his mouth shut.

"What are you doing here?!" Squalo seemed oddly distressed, almost afraid of him. Tsuna wanted to groan in annoyance. That _must_ mean Iemitsu was somehow much stronger than he expected.

"Xanxus," Iemitsu's voice paralleled the serious one he held earlier. "Is one of your minions planning to lift up a sword against me, the Outside Advisor?"

Xanxus's dangerous glare intensified, almost like he seemed annoyed ( _"Can't I just kill them?" The Kyuubi nearly whined in his head.)_

"Don't stick your comments in now, Iemitsu!" Squalo glared. "You're the wuss who can do nothing but run around!"

" _What_?!" Basil pulled out his weapon, but was stopped by Iemitsu's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait Basil." He looked back up at the Varia. "I wasn't running. I was just waiting for an answer from the Ninth." He pulled out a letter, obviously from the Ninth Vongola, explaining that he was now in charge of assuming his reply.

Apparently, as Tsuna learned from Reborn explaining it, as the Outside Advisor of the Vongola, in a state of emergency Iemitsu is seen as the second position and has the same voting power to choose the next heir.

Basil handed him a letter from the Ninth (odd, how that seemed to be the only way he was ever in contact with him) that stated that instead of choosing Tsuna to become the next heir, he wished to change it to Xanxus. Iemitsu, apparently, refused to offer Xanxus the rings and since there shouldn't be any needless fighting…

It was decided that those who wield the same type of ring will fight in a one on one battle.

The rest of the night was pretty much a huge blur. They were introduced to their judges, and were told that their first battle will happen at Namimori (Tsuna could, at least, clearly remember Hibari's displeasure at that), before they were told to go home. (He was pretty sure Xanxus's gaze was still lingering on him, but he wasn't sure what to make of it.)

And so, what felt like hours later, Tsuna stood rummaging through his room closet for the huge sweater he craved. He hardly had the energy to talk to Reborn and Iemitsu, and it seemed they understood as they had let him drag Hibari up to his room and close the door behind them with no other interruption.

Besides, how was he going to explain all of this anyway?

"Are you going to explain what happened with Xanxus?" Hibari finally asked from his bed. He had stripped off his sweater, leaving him in his turtleneck and jeans. "You were clearly getting another memory."

Tsuna frowned, pulling out an orange sweater with a strangely familiar spiral pattern on the chest. "…do you remember the Kyuubi?"

"The Kyuubi…?" Hibari muttered, then frowned. "…vaguely. I remember that he's connected to you in some way."

"I think we were…linked. We were close at some point. Kyuubi isn't his name. I just can't remember what it is." Tsuna was near rambling as he began to strip off his own jeans to change for shorts. "Xanxus reminded me of him. I think it was his eyes." He was silent for a moment before muttering. "…I think I need to find him. Kyuubi, I mean. I think I promised him too."

Hibari was quiet before he sighed and turned away. "Of course, you promised a _demon_ that you would find him again. Fine. I'll help."

Tsuna practically beamed, turning to give Hibari a hug. " _Thank you_."

"You're welcome." Hibari muttered into his hair, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, and then on the lips as he pulled away. "…what about the stuff with your…with Iemitsu?"

Tsuna grimaced, remembering the looks Reborn was giving him earlier. "…I have to explain all of this to Reborn now. I can't really stall anymore."

"…what happened."

"Well," Tsuna turned away from him, to pull off his shirt, trying not to pull off his bandages and Band-Aids as he did so. "he basically told me he's in the mafia and I got a flashback as he did it…so I compared him to the Fourth and ended up screaming at him and I might have had a panic attack and was practically hyperventilating…" He trailed off, turning to Hibari with a sheepish grin. "Oops?"

But Hibari wasn't looking at him. He was looking at his chest. By the hazed look in his eyes, it was obvious something was reminding him of the past. "…Tsuna. What is that?"

Tsuna blinked then looked down at his chest.

There was something written on it, like ink.

Heartrate skyrocketing, he rushed to his mirror.

On his chest, right over his heart, was a familiar, spiral-like seal.

And Tsuna screamed.

O~O~O

As soon as Xanxus found himself in his room, he shed off his jacket and shirt, almost desperately ripping them off. He turned to the nearest mirror, and he nearly choked with emotion when he saw the familiar seal had blossomed on his chest. The same one that kept Naruto as his jailor and bound their lives together.

"He's here." Xanxus's voice was a whisper. "After all this fucking time, he's fucking _here_."

He could have laughed. He could have screamed. He could have cried.

But he just stood in that room, staring at his reflection in the mirror, hoping to hell and back that he'd be able to find Naruto before he had to go back to Italy.

(He just hoped he wasn't one of the kids his men would have to fight)

* * *

 **Ok this chapter got away from me because first off, that meltdown Tsuna had with Iemitsu? Not planned. Like, not planned at all it just sort of? Happened?**

 **And the seal re-appearing? I actually got the idea of it right when I was writing the Varia appearing in front of our dorks. It'll be explained why later (I even wrote it down to make sure I remember to explain it cause trust me I will forget)**

 **But god I'm so excited! Really I'm already trying to imagine the dynamic between Xanxus and Tsuna once they realize who each other are (at least Tsuna seems to have an idea but Xanxus really has no clue).**

 **So see you guys next chapter!**


	23. The First Fight (And The Ones Affected)

**Ok before this chapter starts I just…really want to thank anyone who's ever reviewed on this series. I don't have a lot of confidence in my writing abilities and I always tend to compare my works with more popular ones. So let me tell you how happy I am to see your reviews (trust me I think I've cried of happiness a few times some of you are so fucking sweet holy shit).**

 **And now that the thanks are over, I hope you guys enjoy this long chapter, which somehow got pretty long despite the fact that I didn't actually go into detail about the fight.**

* * *

Tsuna's scream, followed by his sobbing and panic attack, alerted, in order: Reborn, Iemitsu, and Bianchi. Later, Hibari figured that bursting in to see a half-naked Tsuna sobbing in his arms wasn't the best (or most seemingly innocent) thing to run into. He knew his glare didn't affect S-class ninja – _hitmen in the mafia_ – like they seemed to be (well, not Tsuna's dad, but he figured he had abilities close enough to be one if the Varia was wary about crossing him.)

All this over the seal that had reappeared on Tsuna's body.

He wasn't sure if the two adults and baby had seen the seal that had bloomed on Tsuna's chest, making the skin underneath red. Though Tsuna was buried in his chest enough that he was pretty sure they didn't.

They left them alone after a few scathing remarks (" _No crowding or I'll bite you all to death"_ ) and it took much longer to calm Tsuna down than he would have liked. He muttered something about _"Kurama"_ before promptly falling asleep on his chest.

So Hibari slipped his sweater on him and put him in bed (he might have left a kiss on his forehead), then sat on the floor, listening to his sunshine's soft breathing.

With a sigh, he placed his head in his hand. He didn't expect that a demon would follow them into their reincarnations, but it made sense since he is _a demon_.

He didn't remember much about the Kyuubi. He remembered clearly, that Tsuna has a very clear connection to him. He also remembered that he's entered Tsuna's mind and talked to the Kyuubi very briefly (it was odd, the image he got was of a large, terrifying fox, not of a man). But that was mostly where his memories about the Kyuubi ended. Well, it made sense that living with someone in his head for so long made him get such a close attachment to him that he _reacted like this._

…So now they needed to find him.

Hibari sighed again. A bit louder. Tsuna muttered something in his sleep.

It was all too close of a coincidence. The Varia – _Xanxus_ appearing – and Tsuna is very clearly remembering the Kyuubi?

 _Xanxus is the Kyuubi, isn't he?_ Hibari felt like sighing again. He grabbed his tonfa instead, when the door opened.

Luckily, or unluckily, it was only Reborn.

Hibari didn't bother putting down his tonfa, or looking at the hitman as he said, "You want answers, don't you?"

"You'll finally give them to me?"

Hibari ran a hand through his hair, and glanced back at the baby. For a moment, the only noise was Tsuna's phone buzzing with oncoming texts. "…it's a long story. I don't have the patience to repeat myself. And if you have any questions afterwords, you'll need to ask Tsuna about it later."

Reborn's eyes flickered to Tsuna's sleeping form, before he turned back to Hibari and nodded.

So, he opened his mouth and told their story.

O~O~O

That night Gokudera sat under his blankets. Only the lamp was on, and he was dressed for bed, but he couldn't stop his mind from _racing_ with worry and self-doubt. The Varia is practically the Vongola's strongest group of hitmen. Tenth will be fighting _Xanxus._ Yamamoto will be fighting _Squalo_.

The thought of Tsuna being crushed under Xanxus's grip and Yamamoto being _sliced to death_ was enough to make him grab his phone.

He was allowed to be worried, especially about Tenth and Yama. (Don't you _dare_ ask about the nickname. It's just easier than saying "Yamamoto" all the time.) Tenth was…well he's not _fragile_ but…it's not like Gokudera ever saw him as a _fighter_.

Before he even really realized what he was doing, he was already sending a couple of texts to Tenth's number.

 **You: Hey Tenth, feeling ok?**

 **You: Worried about the fights?**

 **You: Well, if you are, don't worry! We'll definitely win!**

After a few minutes, and with no reply (he's probably with the bastard Hibari), he sighed and switched to Yamamoto's number.

 **You: Yama please tell me you're up.**

It hardly took a minute for the other boy to reply.

 **Yama: Yeah**

 **Yama: I don't think I'm sleeping for a bit.**

 **You: Me either.**

 **You: I'm just worried.**

 **You: About a lot of things**

There was a pause.

 **Yama: Can I call you?**

Gokudera stared at the message, feeling his face heating up even though he wasn't sure _why._ He's talked to the idiot plenty of times. A phone call wasn't all that different.

 **You: Yeah sure**

It didn't take long for a smooth song to come from his phone, which he quickly silenced by answering the call and putting the phone to his ear.

"Yama…?" He muttered

" _Hey Dera."_ Yamamoto's voice came through the phone. He sounded tired.

"You know we were doing just fine texting." He grumbled. It was just… _annoying_ what Yamamoto did to him lately. Making things seem hotter and touching him all the time and _his stupid fucking voice…_

" _Sorry."_ The bastard. He didn't sound sorry at all. _"I just needed to hear your voice."_

And there he goes again. Saying things that made his face heat up and his heart do this _stupid thing_. "…you're so weird." He merely grumbled.

" _I guess I am."_ His usual answer came.

They fell into silence. For a moment Gokudera wished he was lying next to him instead on the other side of the phone. And before he could even get embarrassed at the sudden thought, Yamamoto spoke.

" _Are you worried about Tsuna?"_

 _And you._ He wanted to say, but that was too…embarrassing. Instead he said a simple, "Yeah. He's just…he's not…"

" _You think he'll get a panic attack?"_

Gokudera winced. "…maybe. I don't know. I _hope_ he doesn't."

" _Well Hibari's gonna be there so he can calm Tsuna down if he gets an attack watching us fight…"_

"What if he gets a panic attack _while fighting Xanxus_."

" _We'll help."_ Yamamoto answered immediately, with such unwavering determination Gokudera couldn't help but believe him. _"We'll ask Hibari how to calm him down and we'll make sure he's ok. Everyone will be ok after this. I'm sure of it."_

"Even you?" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Yamamoto paused. Gokudera could _feel_ his smile on the other end. " _Dera…are you worried about me?"_

"Shut up." His face was heating up again. Stupid Yama. "So, what if I am? You're facing _Squalo._ "

" _I'm training. I've gotten really strong."_ His voice was so soothing, Gokudera couldn't help but believe him. _"You've gotten strong too, right?"_

"…yeah." He didn't tell him he hadn't really completed his training. He actually wanted Yamamoto to sleep after all. The idiot hardly got enough. "So, we'll win."

" _Yeah we will."_ He could tell Yama was grinning on the other end. _"…hey, you're the guardian of the Storm, and I'm the guardian of the Rain, right?"_

"…so?"

" _So…we probably work really well together, don't we? I like the idea, us…together…"_ There was a pause, in which Gokudera thought his heart had nearly stopped, until Yamamoto added, _"Working together, I mean."_

It was too late. Gokudera's face already felt as if it was on fire. God, why was Yama like this?

"W-Working together. Sounds nice." He muttered. Yamamoto chuckled and _god why did he feel like melting this was clearly all Yamamoto's fault._

"… _so…see you tomorrow? You'll be at school, right?"_

"…I'm skipping to train some more." He admitted, thanking the heavens he wasn't actually in front of Yamamoto. There were many things he can take. Yamamoto's disappointed and dejected expression was not one of those things. "But we'll see each other in the morning."

He could tell Yamamoto was grinning on the other end. _"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Night Dera. Sleep well."_

"…Night Yama."

O~O~O

There weren't a lot of opportunities to visit Japan, as leader of the Varia. (It was really the first time he's been leader of _anything_ and damn if he wasn't proud of himself for how well he was doing so far.) So now that he was here…he might as well check on things.

It wasn't like he was actually _needed_ for these battles, and he calculated that (as long as nothing else goes all that wrong) he had enough chakra built up for a quick journey. Sure, he'll be _weakened_ but it's not like his chakra is connected to Dying Will. (A weird thing that is.)

So, he slipped out of his Varia uniform for more travel friendly clothes ( _"You mean clothes that won't make people stare at you." Naruto snickered in his mind. He told him to shut up, orange wearing bastard._ ) But as he was buttoning up his shirt, Squalo practically barged in.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other. Xanxus's Varia clothes on the floor, his chest exposed and more importantly, the seal exposed. He tensed as the stared at who was practically his second in command. The man just looked from the clothes, to him, to the seal. He noted a faint blush on the other's cheeks, but that quickly went away.

"Where the _fuck_ are _you_ going?"

He merely sighed and buttoned up his shirt the rest of the way. "I'm going to check on something." Seeing Squalo's look, he continued, "I'll be back by the second fight."

The swordsman huffed and walked into the room, ignoring his complaint of, "Who said you could come in?" and sat on his bed.

"…are you going to tell me what that thing on your chest is?"

"And here I was hoping you wouldn't ask." He couldn't help but grumble, before starting to unbutton his shirt so his chest would show again. Once again, he was pretty sure he noticed a small flush on Squalo's cheeks but he didn't bother calling attention to it. "This is one of the reasons I'm going out for the moment." He said bluntly, pulling his shirt open a bit wider so that Squalo would be able to see the seal more clearly.

"What the fuck is that…?" He reached a hand out, then seemed to think better of it. Xanxus rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand, before putting it on his chest. His hand was a bit colder than he expected, but it felt nice on his naturally warm skin. "It's all…red." Squalo muttered,

"It doesn't hurt if that's what you're asking." He grumbled. Well, it might have hurt _at the moment he got it_ but it wasn't like he wasn't used to it. "And the only reason you don't recognize it is because…" He paused. Should he explain chakra? God, is he actually _thinking about explaining chakra_. The last time he did, it didn't really end well for anyone involved.

He shook his head. He trusted Squalo but, as Naruto used to say, _"The walls have ears and the doors have eyes."_

"…listen I'll explain later." He pulled away, standing up to button his shirt up again. "…But if I am gone longer than a day or two then you can worry."

Squalo huffed, standing up as well. "Fine. You better come back in one piece, idiot."

He grinned. "Sounds like you actually care."

Squalo scowled. " _Fuck off_. Just come back safe or I'll kill you."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

O~O~O

Tsuna woke up with the immediate feeling of pure dread. It seemed that he had fallen asleep in his sweater and shorts (something he hardly does) and almost foreboding, he noticed his necklaces were near-tangled around his neck, the half of the Sky ring he had was the first thing he saw.

 _The Varia are here._

Another wave of dread went through him. He sat up, pulling the necklaces off so he could untangle them.

"Tsuna."

He jumped, nearly screaming, before turning to see Reborn sitting nearby, right next to a framed notice of the Ninth's letter from last night. Clutching his heart, he groaned. "Reborn _stop doing that—_ "

"Hibari told me everything."

He paused, and stared at Reborn, who had another one of his serious expressions. "… _everything_? So, you know…that we….?"

"You two are reincarnations of ninja from a long time ago and your panic attacks come from the memories when situations remind you of things from your past life."

"…you know, when you say it out loud it sounds crazy."

Reborn shrugged. "It makes sense. There are times when you look not entirely there. And you've called me another people by different names we've never heard of before. You called Bianchi 'Tsunade' yesterday."

Tsuna felt his face heat up with pure embarrassment. "She…didn't ask about that, did she?"

"I made her think it was connected to your meltdown. You weren't exactly making much sense to anyone who doesn't know about this." He actually seemed _amused_ , so that at least showed he was taking this well, much to Tsuna's embarrassment.

"So…um…" He glanced up. "…does Dad know?"

"Iemitsu? Do you want him to know?"

He scrunched up his face. He definitely didn't _want_ Iemitsu to know, but he must be confused to why he was screaming at him as if he was the Fourth Hokage (not that he knew who the Fourth is, or what a Hokage is). "…I'll tell him…later. Maybe." _If he's even_ _here_ _later._ He added to himself bitterly.

"If that's the case…" Reborn stood. "You're going to be late for school if you don't get ready now."

"You want me to _go to school_?!" Tsuna asked, completely baffled. "After everything that happened?!"

"Yes. Now go to school."

He grumbled, but still threw the blankets off. He felt like he should be training or doing literally anything else, not _go to school_. But well, it wasn't like Reborn liked when he did the opposite of what he asked.

The minute he walked out the house, Tsuna's feet felt like concrete, yet he still forced himself on the path. His mind raced with worried thoughts, along with new person who knew his and Hibari's secret. Not like it was supposed to stay very secret for very long (living with two hitmen hardly gave opportunities to have secrets anyway), but considering he now had his new mission of finding the Kyuubi it was probably a good idea to have Reborn helping ( _if_ he decides to help, that is).

But now he couldn't even _focus_ on finding Kyuubi for at least a week, all because of the Varia and their stupid battles. Who _knew_ where the grumpy old fox could be—

"Yo! Tsuna!" The yell, followed by a familiar arm suddenly resting on his shoulders, jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up and gave Yamamoto a slightly strained smile. He could see the tiredness under his eyes – even his smile seemed pretty tired as well.

"Morning Yamamoto." He greeted him. "Tough night?"

"You can tell?" He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "I could barely get any sleep last night. I couldn't calm down so I figured I should just go to school."

Tsuna felt his smile fall. Even _Yamamoto,_ who's usually cheerfully positive even at the oddest of moments, was worried about this whole thing—

"It's so exciting!" Yamamoto grinned wider, with the sudden exclamation.

"W- _Wha_ …?" Tsuna sputtered, disbelief clear on his face, though his lips twitched as he threatened to smile through his surprise.

Yamamoto was still smiling as he patted Tsuna's shoulder. "Listen Tsuna, it's all gonna be alright. It's _our_ battle – we have everyone with us and we're all going to win this together. Ok? So, don't worry so much."

"Well, _obviously_!" A new, but familiar voice joined them. They both turned to see Gokudera, holding an opened box.

"Dera!" Yamamoto grinned.

Gokudera's cheeks were lightly flushed at the nickname, and he huffed. "Listen, Tenth, you can definitely count on us in this."

Their bountiful enthusiasm caused a slightly wider smile to spread across Tsuna's face. They _would_ definitely win this. And when they do, maybe he'll even get their help finding the Kyuubi…

"What's this, Dera?" Yamamoto was looking over Gokudera's shoulder, into the box he was carrying. "Paper airplanes?"

"It's training!" Gokudera huffed, pulling away. "I want to get training in before my fight…but I'll still be here for the fight tonight!"

"You know, if you're calling each other by nicknames, why don't you just go on a first name basis?" Tsuna suddenly blurted out, then held back a laugh at the twin embarrassed, red faces that turned to him.

"Well, why don't _you_ call Hibari by his first name?"

Tsuna paused, then blushed. He remembered he had absolutely no qualms about calling him his first name in their past life, even when they supposedly "hated" each other. Maybe he should…try to at some point.

"…speaking of Hibari," Tsuna muttered, glancing away from the two and definitely avoiding the question, "…where is he?"

O~O~O

Something Hibari, regrettably, actually liked about Dino – he doesn't hold back, even a little bit. He only complained a little, last night when he called him at dawn for more training. And now, hours later, they were both on the roof, their surroundings smashed or broken. Blood from both of them littered their bodies, cuts from the whip were on Hibari while bruises from the tonfa were on Dino.

For a moment, it was silent, and Dino glanced up at him. "School's starting. We need to patch up."

He wanted to argue against that, but the side of him who wanted to protect Namimori overruled. With a sigh, he smoothly sat on the ground, and dropped his two tonfa next to him, though close enough to grab if he needed to.

Dino, though, just grinned and walked over to him, motioning for him to take off his shirt. He did so, noting that it was a pretty good thing he had extra clothes in his Committee's office.

"You're improving a lot." Dino suddenly praised him, as he bandaged a cut on his arm. "You'll do great when your battle comes along."

"…thanks?" Hibari muttered, not really sure how to respond to that. (He wasn't used to _much_ positive reinforcement from the people who trained him in the past.)

It seemed to be the right thing to say though, because Dino practically _beamed._

(What was with him, attracting blonde rays of _light_ towards his direction?)

"We're reaching progress! You usually don't say a lot to me!"

"…I don't have much to say." It seemed with every word Dino seemed to think it was another sign of them getting closer. At this rate, he'll be clinging to him with the full belief that they're best friends.

"You have plenty to say when I mention Tsuna." He pointed out.

Hibari turned away, fully aware of the blush on his face as Dino laughed. "You two really are adorable together."

"Shut up." He huffed.

"Sure. I can shut up." That was a lie. Dino does not know how to shut up.

Hibari knew he was right, when only a minute later, Dino opened his mouth again.

"Hey, Hibari?" There was already a teasing tone to his voice. Hibari could already feel himself regretting everything that led up to this moment.

"What."

"I was thinking…we've gotten pretty close with this training…" Dino's smile was still playful. Hibari figured that their little talks (in which Dino did most of the talking) it qualified them as being "close." It's not like he actually had many "friends." Those in his committee were usually too scared to talk to him (except for Kusakabe, for whatever reason) and Tsuna's friends don't really _talk,_ talk to him. They just kind of leave him be and allow his presence. And in a way, Tsuna was just a given. They had known each other in the past but in this life, they somewhat skipped pure friendship and went into the crush territory fairly quickly.

"Where is this going." He asked plainly.

"How about you call me 'big brother?'"

The name sent an immediate jolt through him. He pulled away violently, familiar panic filled his chest at the word. He blinked, almost expecting to find himself in a black and red world and for there to be _screaming unstoppable screaming just stop stop don't kill them brother why are you doing this STOP PLEASE THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU STOP KILLING THEM—_

" _Hibari_!"

Gradually, he realized he wasn't back there in that hell-like world. He was on the roof of his school. Dino was in front of him, a concerned expression on his face.

 _Fuck_.

"Hibari? What was that? Are you ok?"

"…I'm fine." He muttered. His body was still tense. He still expected to see red eyes and to be held against a wall by his throat.

"I'm sorry I didn't know that…title…would make you so…uncomfortable." Dino muttered. He _actually_ looked sorry. It was strange. "I won't tease you with it anymore."

"Thanks." Hibari muttered. At once he was entirely grateful no one knew about his home life. He would have a very hard time explaining why "Big Brother" left a horrible taste in his mouth and panic forming in his chest.

He didn't really notice the almost determined expression on Dino's face, or how he carefully continued bandaging his wounds.

(He especially didn't realize that Dino had basically now adopted him as his younger brother, even if he wouldn't specifically _call_ himself his "big brother.")

O~O~O

With what was going to happen at midnight that night, school in general felt weird and out of place. It was all just so…ordinary. He went to class, like usual, got made fun of like usual, had lunch like usual and went home like usual. The only thing that alternated from his usual daily path was the fact that Ryohei had made him promise not to tell Kyoko what was going on.

As soon as he was back in his room, Reborn was looking at him, almost like he was trying to fully grasp him.

"What was your panic attack about last night?"

"It's been bugging you, huh?" Tsuna huffed, dropping his bag and sighing before sitting on the floor in front of his bed.

"Is it a memory that will affect you during the fight?"

Tsuna crossed his arms and frowned. "…if Xanxus is there it might. He reminds me of…this demon I knew."

"A demon?" There was actual surprise on Reborn's face when he said this. It was almost refreshing to see.

"Yeah…technically." Tsuna hardly noticed the fond smile on his face, putting a hand to his chest where the seal had reappeared. "He was the Kyuubi. A grouchy fox who was sealed inside me the day I was born. He has a real name, but I can't remember it just yet."

"Xanxus reminded you of him?" Reborn seemed to be…thinking.

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah. I think it was the red eyes. They kinda glowed like his did, but it was probably just my imagination."

Reborn merely hummed. "Maybe…"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. That look was a bit familiar. "What the hell are you planning, Pervy Sage?"

"'Pervy Sage' is a past mentor of yours?" He seemed amused at the name at the very least.

"Yes…I used to travel around with him a lot…" Tsuna's voice lowered to a whisper, as he felt fond yet sad memories about the man.

"What was his actual name?"

"Why are you so interested?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow.

"If I know more about your past I can snap you out of flashbacks easier."

He blinked. "Oh." He wasn't sure if Reborn _actually_ cared or he was just using this for some personal gain later. Though, seeing no other real reason not to, he just told him all he could remember about Jiraiya. Then, on the way it somehow deviated to Kakashi and Tsunade.

Before he even realized it, it got closer and closer to midnight, until Reborn was practically dragging him out the door.

Tsuna jogged to his school entrance, holding Lambo (since he refused to come unless he was carried, and according to Reborn he apparently _has_ to be there) and Reborn walked at his side.

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Ryohei were already there, greeting him happily. He couldn't help but smile back. It seemed through the worry, they were all pretty pumped up.

"Where's Hibari?"

"I thought _you_ would know." Ryohei frowned.

He sighed. "…he has a habit of disappearing on people."

"Well, do you know where the person who has the Mist Ring is?" Yamamoto quickly asked, probably before Gokudera could spout something rude about Hibari (Tsuna silently thanked him for that).

At the mention of the Mist Guardian, Tsuna blinked before frowning in thought, going over in his head the holders of each ring that Reborn had told him about. And he realized that Reborn actually hadn't mentioned the Mist Guardian at all. He glanced down at the baby, but it looked like he was ignoring him.

Great.

So, Tsuna just shrugged. "Maybe they'll come later?"

Still, the fact that Hibari hadn't shown bothered him a little. In his mind, he knew he was probably training, but he still had to hold himself back from texting the boy to find out where he was.

The others, their judges as well as the Varia arrived. And with it, the battle between the Guardians of the Sun – Ryohei and Lussuria – began.

O~O~O

Haru knew what was going on with Tsuna and the others (Bianchi had told her when she texted her earlier about it). The problem was keeping Hana and Kyoko out of the mess. When she suggested a sleepover, they both seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. But Kyoko said it would have to be at her house since she was apparently babysitting a baby.

(The "baby's" name is Collonello apparently. And he's a hitman like Reborn. Haru should have _known_.)

But other than the fact that Collonello was obviously watching them for their own safety, and the overall guilt over keeping a secret from Kyoko (her eyes are just…so pure! How can you not feel guilty keeping a secret from her?) they had a great time. Sometime near midnight, while they were still watching the Harry Potter movies (Haru found out that Kyoko is a Hufflepuff, while she herself is in Ravenclaw and Hana is in Slytherin – honestly a great combination) Ryohei slipped out of the house.

He had possibly been doing it hoping that his sister wouldn't notice. And while he was a little loud, (Haru felt like sighing. He could never be a ninja) she really didn't.

But Hana noticed.

"Hey, Kyoko, where'd your brother go?"

"Hm?" She looked up from the very annoying scene where Dumbledore was yelling at Harry over the Goblet of Fire (completely inaccurate from the book!). "…I don't know. He probably went for a jog."

"At _midnight_?"

"He's always exercising, isn't he?" Haru quickly jumped in. "He's probably fine."

Kyoko nodded, turning to Hana with a smile, but she didn't seem all that convinced.

"…whatever." She grumbled, turning back to the screen. "Let's just watch this completely inaccurate scene."

"I was just about that!" Haru threw her hands up in the air. "I mean, even his _eyes_ —"

She and Hana began a rant about the differences from the book to the movie, which Kyoko didn't seem to fully understand ("I didn't get to read all the books!") but she still chipped in with her own enthusiasm. When the rant wound down, and Hana muttered about getting more snacks, Kyoko hopped right up.

"I should go check on Collonello! I'll be right back!" Kyoko hummed as she headed to the room she had "put Collonello to sleep in." It was hilarious to think that a hitman had just let a fourteen-year-old girl put him to bed like a little kid, even if he looked like one.

Hana headed to the kitchen to fill up their snack bowls, but she hardly headed through the door when Kyoko came running back into the living room, in near tears.

"I can't find him! He disappeared!"

And that's how they ended up throwing on clothes and looking around to try and find the "baby." Haru tried desperately to keep them away from Namimori, where she knew fights would be happening. And if _Ryohei_ was fighting today…

Oh, Kyoko would probably have a heart attack from worry.

Hana slipped next to her while Kyoko looked around and whispered, "This has to do with Tsuna and his friends, doesn't it?"

Haru yelped and jumped, turning to the girl. "W-What would make you think that?"

"You've been sending us in circles. Away from our school. It's easy to notice if you're not going insane with worry." Hana replied bluntly.

Hana winced (seems like _she's_ the one who could never be a ninja) before sighing. "…if Kyoko goes to the school she's going to be even _more_ worried."

"I'm almost afraid to ask but…what the _hell_ is going on?"

"Well…um…"

"What are you ladies doing out late at night?"

They all turned to see a man, who's face seemed oddly familiar yet not at the same time.

"We're looking for a baby who wandered off." Kyoko quickly said. "Have you seen him? He likes to dress up like a solider…"

"Collonello?" The man asked. Haru immediately got a bad feeling about him, and by the way Hana's eyes narrowed, she did too. It was a bit too…convenient, didn't it?

Kyoko, though, sighed in relief, nodding. "Yes, do you know where he is?"

"Actually, he's with your brother right now. I can take you to them."

"Wait a second." Hana quickly stepped in the way. "You're a complete _stranger_ who so _happens_ to know Collonello _and_ her brother?"

He chuckled. "I know them because I'm Tsuna's father, Iemitsu. You three are friends of his, right? You must have heard of me then."

"Nope."

"No."

"Sorry but we haven't."

He seemed a bit dejected at that. Haru felt a bit bad, but on the other hand she's really never heard Tsuna ever talk about his dad. And she's met his mom once, and _she_ never mentioned him either. On some level, she thought he had died.

 _He must be in the mafia too._ The realization sent a jolt of " _oh"_ through her. Maybe _he_ was how Tsuna was connected to the mafia other than being a future boss? And why she hasn't heard of him until now?

"So, we still can't trust you." Hana crossed her arms.

"But _Hana_ ,"

"Maybe we can?"

The two girls turned to Haru, surprise on Hana's face and a smile on Kyoko's.

"I-I mean…we don't have any leads…and it's not like he would lie about being Tsuna's dad."

Iemitsu seemed pleased. "So, why don't you follow me, girls?"

In the end, they decided to, heading towards Namimori. And, like Haru feared, they walked right into a fight.

O~O~O

"Kyoko-chan?! Hana?! Haru?! _Dad_?! What the hell are you guys _doing_ here?" Between the stress of watching Ryohei fight, and held on the ropes, having Hibari nowhere to be found and now his Dad was showing up with his friends who had _the least amount of involvement to the mafia_? He wanted to try taking a swing at the man again, even at the excuse that they were just looking for Collonello.

…but still, Kyoko showing up seemed to have boosted Ryohei's moral, enough for him to get in a final punch. And once Lussuria was down, Tsuna noticed Collonello had pretty much gotten the three girls to leave. Haru gave him a quick apologetic look as they left. Had she been trying to keep Kyoko from the fight…?

(Maybe he should talk to her later to thank her from trying)

The battle officially ended when one of the fighters from the Varia's side shot Lussuria down, killing him on the spot. Tsuna tensed up at the sight, ( _Haru's blood, pouring to the ground from his chest – He just wanted to be_ _useful._ _He just wanted to help the person who was so important to him!_ ) but Reborn seemed to notice the signs that he was going into a flashback ("Breath Tsuna. You're fine. Ground yourself.").

But Ryohei had won. And though he was terribly hurt, he had still _won_.

Maybe they can do this?

That hope, however, was squashed, when Tsuna heard the next matchup.

 _The Thunder Guardians._

 _Lambo will have to fight._

* * *

 **GUYS HOLD ON BEFORE YOU GO. I NEED YOUR OPINIONS ON SOMETHING.**

 **Originally I only wanted Tsuna, Hibari, and Xanxus to be reincarnations. But now I have a few characters I want to be reincarnations too (at the moment these are Mukuro, Haru, Enma, and Bianchi. Maybe Hana too) And I want to know you guys thoughts on it honestly and maybe even who you guys think they should be. Or even who else you think should be a reincarnated character.**


	24. The Second Fight (And Those Not There)

_**Wow**_ **this is...so late. I'm sorry guys! I'd like to explain what happened: Writers Block, followed by Preparing to Move, and then Starting College Classes.**

 **Also, I was looking over the reviews, and it seems a lot of you want for there to be more than just Tsuna and Hibari as reincarnations! I've already chosen who I want to be reincarnated other than them now, so hopefully you guys like what I give you?**

 **Anyway, these fights are mostly going to be not really focused on the fighting itself? Mostly cause...other than the way people talk and react to them, there's not much else that's changed. And I don't want to bore you guys by focusing on a fight that you already know about and how it happened.**

* * *

Tsuna wasn't sure what to do first: text/call Hibari or punch Iemitsu in the face.

For the moment, since Iemitsu was there and fully accessible (and he had absolutely no clue what his boyfriend was doing right now), he decided on the latter and immediately began stomping up to his father as things began winding down. His friends were starting to leave towards their homes (Gokudera and Yamamoto, as he noticed, seemed to be walking home together. He couldn't help but smile a little at the sight) and noticing him, his father only offered one of his carefree smiles.

"Ah Tsuna, those girls were quite nice. Kyoko-chan reminds me of your mother when she was young!"

He ignored the very persistent voice in his head telling him to curl up and scream in pure _embarrassment_ as he reached up to grab him by the collar, pulling him down to his height. Behind him, Basil let out a little yelp of surprise, but Iemitsu put up a hand, obviously telling him to stand down. Tsuna was barely paying attention to Basil as he glared Iemitsu down.

"What the _actual fuck_ is _wrong_ with you?! What fucking _possessed_ you to bring them here?!" He near growled. His father merely put up his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Now, now, calm down…I wouldn't have brought them here if they weren't in any actual danger…" His smile was infuriating as he added, "Besides, other than the Sun Guardian, none of your other Guardians got hurt, right?"

He narrowed his eyes, still wanting to punch his face in, though he _did_ have a point. No one else was really harmed during the battle…but still. He was allowed to be pissed about this.

So, with all the annoyance he could muster, he huffed and stepped away, letting go of his father's collar. He opened his mouth again, (part of him was unsure for _what_ , really. Maybe to demand a better apology than this?) when suddenly he found his arms full with a sleeping five-year-old in a cow onesie.

" _Why_ are you—?"

"Make sure you take care of this boy while you're at it! He's a child that holds a lot of potential power."

Tsuna couldn't help but frown at that statement, the reminder that this _child_ was going to fight in some battle tomorrow was ringing in the front of his mind. Dread filled his stomach, hardly making him acknowledge Iemitsu as he left.

Lambo will have to _fight_ tomorrow. Already, he was getting flashes back to a smiling child who as lonely as him for different reasons, but shared the same dream. He imagined him trying to fight against someone as dangerous and his heart felt like it was in his _throat_.

"Tsuna?" Reborn's voice pierced through his anxiety again – he could see on his face that he was trying to tell if he was going to have another flashback again.

He shook his head. "…I just…Lambo reminds me of…someone. And this fight is _way_ too dangerous for him!" When Reborn merely gave him one of his _looks_ , he huffed and turned to the direction of home. "I mean, he's _five_. Fucking _five,_ Reborn! He's younger than Konohamaru was when I first met him! And even he wasn't allowed to fight when we were under attack! Can't he just forfeit –?"

"No, we can't." Reborn interrupted his ramblings with finality.

"Do you _want_ Lambo to fight?!"

"I am not _cruel,_ Tsuna." Reborn seemed to roll his eyes. Tsuna glanced at him, fairly sure that he _was_ that cruel. This is the same baby that set off dynamite in his room to wake him up in the mornings and has shot him enough times that he now reflexively gets ready to _die_ whenever he hears a gunshot. Not to mention, Reborn has watched Lambo play with guns and grenades without even _blinking_.

"I know when someone is and isn't in trouble, Tsuna, so no, I'm not… _that_ cruel." Reborn cut into his thoughts, making him jump. _God,_ he was still 98% sure Reborn could read minds. "But Lambo really can't forfeit this one. Levi won't care."

Tsuna seemed to freeze, his heart turning cold. "Are you telling me…he'll attack Lambo anyway?"

The hitman let out a small sigh before nodding.

At that second, Tsuna wholeheartedly wished he had chakra back so he could shove a Rasengan into that asshole's face.

"So, we're just going to let Lambo, a _kid,_ fight?"

"…it's not like we have a choice."

Tsuna glared at the ground. Because yeah, it _did_ seem pretty hopeless right now. But he knew one hundred percent, from his past, that there was _always_ a way to fight through impossible odds.

…speaking of impossible odds…

"Reborn? Do you…happen to know where Hibari might be?" He asked, worry edging into his voice. With Lambo in his arms, he couldn't check to see if Hibari had texted or called.

Reborn merely tilted his head and gave an uncaring shrug. "He's probably training."

Tsuna merely made a small noise and quickened his pace. The sooner he got home, the sooner he could check his phone and call Hibari to make sure he was alright.

O~O~O

School had ended when Dino had suddenly sprung on him his idea to go to other areas for their training. The argument was something about how they would just end up destroying the school roof in their efforts – something Hibari definitely _didn't_ want – and the surroundings were just…too boring. It was flat, with a couple of walls. It didn't have the obstacles of any other environment that could be used and avoided in battle.

And, honestly, Hibari easily agreed. His past memories were filled with training fields that were mostly just forests, with plenty of obstacles to use as he used his weapon. It would be a welcomed shift to go back to what he used to train in.

Before he even knew it, Dino was talking his ear off as he walked him home, and waited for him outside (on Hibari's insistence, considering he wasn't sure if his mother was home or not) while he changed out of his school clothes and packed a bag. He found himself in Dino's car and they began heading to who-knows-where.

Maybe he should have asked a couple more questions before he was whisked off like this.

…though at the same time, it's not like he's asked many questions in the _past_ when he was taken somewhere new during the years he trained with that snake-man. Hell, he was given _medicine_ by his assistant at the time, and only consumed it with little questions because with them, it was easier and less draining to just take it and allow yourself to curl up in pain for a while.

"Hey, _Kyoya_!"

 _That_ caused him to jolt and turn to the older man, who merely grinned, then put his hands up in surrender at the glare of distain he gave him, He was fairly sure no one has _ever_ used his first name (even Tsuna, which, on some level, upset him just a little). And it was strange and just a bit uncomfortable just hearing it.

"Sorry! I was trying to get your attention for the past couple minutes."

"Oh."

He didn't feel sorry, but he still wondered why that somehow warranted the excuse of using his first name.

"I was _asking you_ if you had training before all of this." He leaned back in his cushioned chair, his body language relaxed, but his eyes sharp.

At the mention of "prior training" Hibari couldn't help but tense a little, his mind immediately sent him back to the time before the Chunin Exams, where he snuck out of a hospital to shove a lightning covered hand into a rock over and over. His mind shifted to the three long years with Orochimaru and despite getting stronger, he definitely had extra scars from it.

He tried to relax himself outwardly, though Dino had obviously already caught the shift in body language by the way he frowned in concern.

Dammit.

"I didn't have any training." He bit out harshly. "I fought whoever disrupted the peace and that's _it_." It wasn't exactly a lie. When he was left practically alone for most of his childhood, it gave him the freedom he needed to become a better fighter. Though, without chakra, he wasn't exactly near where he was at this age in his past life.

Dino watched him for a moment, as if trying to gauge him, before relaxing in his seat. "I was just impressed. The way you fight made me think you had more experience than just street fighting."

A couple memories popped up in the back of his head – being ten, covered in cuts and bruises with a gang sprawled around him. Not having any weapons, so for a while he used whatever he stole from gang members. (He still had a collection of them hidden in his room – knives, bats, nails, etc. It just felt…nice. To have them. For whatever reason.)

" _Street fighting"_ felt like such an odd way to put it, even though it is pretty true. That's what it _was_.

Perhaps having 11 (near 12) years of formal ninja training under his belt (in a way) just made the term feel… _off_.

Instead of arguing it (because he really wasn't in the mood to get into any in-depth conversations with Dino at the moment) he merely turned to the window, humming in a non-committal tone. The trees were comforting. Familiar. It almost made him wish he was wearing a cloak, walking down a dirt road with a smiling blonde at his side—

A flash of red pulled him out of his daydream – too fast to get _that_ good of a look but just slow enough he could recognize there was a tail (or more than one?) and fur…

Was that a _fox_?

O~O~O

Xanxus's little "trip" took a little longer than he really planned. Mostly because in any of his fox forms, he usually had to steer clear of any civilization that happened to be nearby. After all, he was pretty sure bright red foxes with glowing eyes wasn't exactly native to the area.

His journey took him to his Cave (which he didn't really have a _name_ for. So, it was just Cave with a capital "C") which _used_ to be just at the outskirts of The Land of Fire, but now that it was gone…

Either way, this Cave hold every piece of information Xanxus could find about shinobi history and chakra right as the nations were beginning to fall (good _fucking_ riddance). In one way, it was out of a sense of duty. He knew once he saw the way they had practically begun destroying every piece of evidence that chakra ever existed that they definitely were trying to prevent the devastation caused by the Shinobi System to happen again (honestly, he couldn't help but agree). Sakura had been the one to convince him to create the Cave – but now, looking back on it, it was practically a blessing.

His siblings are pretty much gone after what the Akatsuki did to them – he's the only Bijuu left. He and these books are the only proof that shinobi ever existed in the first place.

(He often wondered, over the years, if this was a blessing or a horrible curse.)

The Cave, as anyone else who wasn't proficient in genjutsu or seals, would see a normal cave, probably with some wild animal family harboring it. It gave off an eerie feeling of _stay away_ , which basically guaranteed that no one would be taking the information anytime soon.

Besides, currently, the only ones who could get in right now is him and Sakura – and Sakura is long dead.

He should know. He saw her die.

On days like this, where he couldn't help but stop and stare at his Cave, letting a wave of memories and nostalgia fill him, he couldn't help but wonder if he should be looking for the whole of Team 7 – at least, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. But, on the other hand, he _knew_ Naruto. Their souls were intertwined for _seventeen years._ And Naruto knew Sasuke – they were practically like soulmates. They'd find each other easily. Sakura…he would have to work to find. But, first, he would look for Naruto. Naruto would be able to find her easier than he could.

With a loud sigh, he passed the barrier into the Cave. As he did, he snapped his fingers, letting his chakra flare and dim lights appear. The inside was light an apartment space – big enough to hold the bookcases on both sides of the walls, filled with books and scrolls of history and chakra. A table was at the side – Sakura's old work table that she was adamant on putting there – and a bed he placed there as well. His lips quirked up with fond memories of crashing here when he was too tired to commute back to Konoha. Sometimes, it was his only place to come back to.

With a quick look around (and patting away of dust) he confirmed that the seal really wasn't tampered with and no one had been here since he last stepped inside.

Ignoring the pang of slight disappointment (what did he expect? For Naruto to somehow know this place? For Sakura to be sitting at the desk, giving him that knowing smirk of hers? Or even for _Sasuke_ to be looking among the bookcases, barely looking at him as he searched?) he went over to the bed and flopped down on it.

For the moment, other than the fights, he had no worries. _He_ was in charge of making sure the secrets of chakra didn't make it back out into the world again. And, thinking back to the absolute _mess_ that happened because of it, he figured humanity was _much_ better off without it.

Besides, look at the _stupid shit_ they're doing with Dying Will? That's enough. They'll be fine for now.

Now that he was actually lying down, familiar fatigue hit him like a train.

Ugh. Running around in two-tailed form takes out a _lot_ more than he was used to.

He could take a quick nap before researching into his seal, right?

God, he really shouldn't have overdone it. That was a Naruto move.

Blinking, he could almost see Squalo scowling down at him, a strange, unfamiliar fondness in his eyes as his too-loud voice spoke. _"For fucks sake, you overdid it again, didn't you! How the hell are you supposed to be our leader if you can't take care of yourself? Take a nap, idiot, I'll watch to make sure no one kills you in your sleep."_

"…you could easily kill me though." He muttered, almost rehearsed, as he turned on his side.

He could almost see the strands of Squalo's hair as he sat in a chair in front of his bed.

(Was it weird that he missed him?)

O~O~O

 _I hate anxiety._ Tsuna decided very grudgingly as he paced his room, just vaguely aware of Reborn watching him. He had just finished a conversation with future Lambo, but it did nothing to curb the anxiety that was currently eating at him. Hibari's sudden radio silence was too _familiar._ Too _close_ for comfort. It made him want to jump the window and _run, run, run_ until he found him again. Then he would try to ask Kurama what he should do and that emptiness would return because _Kurama isn't there_. Then it would cycle back to Lambo and imagining his broken little body and _he doesn't deserve this he shouldn't have been chosen—_

" _Tsuna_."

Tsuna paused for a moment, looking up to see Reborn frowning.

"…deep breaths. Breathe in, count to 6. Breathe out, count to ten."

"Reborn—"

"Just do it." He interrupted, in that voice that said there was no room for arguments.

With a sigh, Tsuna tried it.

 _Breathe in…._

 _Breathe out…_

A few moments later, he blinked in surprise, his anxiety had washed away (for the moment at least). Puzzled, he raised an eyebrow at Reborn.

"You…?"

"You're not the only one I've encountered with anxiety." He told him in a completely unimpressed voice.

"Well…thanks?"

"Don't thank me. It wouldn't be good for a mafia boss to let anxieties take him over."

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Gee, _thanks_."

"See? You're better already." He jumped down from his perch. "Now come on, let's train while we wait for Lambo's match."

Training. He could do training. Punching something instead of thinking of his worries was _definitely_ better than pacing in his room pondering about it.

He took a hoodie with him for the rain starting to pour outside, and followed Reborn out, pushing away flashbacks of waking up and finding Hibari's past self _gone_. Of fighting him to near-death and then not being able to see him for three years. No one else was panicking, so that definitely didn't happen again. Hibari wasn't suffering in silence again. He's _fine_.

O~O~O

Xanxus wasn't _back yet_.

Squalo couldn't help but frown as he stared at the front door, rain pouring outside and Levi's fight coming in an hour. He knew their leader did this sometimes – leave for a few days or a week and then come back and act as if nothing happened. (He tried to stray away from the thought that he usually _only tells him_ when he does bullshit like this.)

The others didn't seem half as worried as he was – not that he was _that_ worried – but despite being one of the strongest men Squalo has ever met, he could be surprisingly uncaring of his own health. (He's lost count of how many times he's dragged Xanxus to his room to _sleep_ , promising him he won't let anyone assassinate him. He ignored the rising heat and the _thump_ in his chest when Xanxus would give him that sleepy smile before knocking out.)

Where in the _hell_ did Xanxus even go?

Part of him was bummed. Completely and utterly _annoyed_ that Xanxus left once again. He wanted to find him and give him a piece of his mind (while, of course, making sure he was ok.) Besides, isn't it safer to go on these "secret missions" with someone?

 _Couldn't he have taken him with him?_

"Hey, Squalo! Shouldn't we be heading out?"

He scowled, turning. "Don't fucking yell at me! We're going so fuck off!"

 _Xanxus better come back before the end of this fucking fight or I swear I'm gonna kill him._

O~O~O

"SHIT"

Xanxus practically screamed as soon as he saw the time. How fucking long was he asleep?! Why the hell didn't he set an alarm?

 _Fuck_.

He went around the room, quickly grabbing familiar scrolls about seals and sealing (he could research in his room later) and quickly grabbed another scroll to put them in.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_

He probably needed to eat before he ran _all_ the way back, but he didn't bother for the moment. Instead he crouched down, letting his chakra flare as he turned into his two-tailed fox form. God, he was definitely going to be exhausted later but he'd rather face an exasperated Squalo than an angry one.

O~O~O

The fight was going terribly.

No…that wasn't exactly accurate.

It was definitely _heading_ in the right direction at one point. When Lambo, from 20 years into the future, appeared to fight. At the moment, Tsuna was actually getting hopeful that Lambo would end up winning the end of the match.

But, of course, it took a turn.

Again and again, Tsuna watched as Lambo's little body was knocked around. He was _already unconscious_ and Levi had _already won_. Why did he just keep hitting him?!

"Where do you think you're going?" Reborn's voice rang out from next to him, before he even realized he had moved. "If you help him, you'll be disqualified."

"Do I look like I care?" He threw on his gloves, not taking his eyes off of Lambo as he began stomping over. " _I have to protect Lambo_."

He didn't see Reborn's satisfied smirk, all he felt was the familiar sensation of dying, and then the _rush_ of Dying Will before he aimed right for the conductors sending the constant electric shocks.

O~O~O

When Xanxus had arrived, after stuffing his scroll in his jacket, the fight was just reaching its near end. Watching Levi beat the shit out of a _child_ didn't leave the best taste in his mouth, but he was too exhausted to even _plan_ to chew him out about it later.

Then, the conductors were destroyed.

In the most Naruto-like fashion Xanxus has seen since the blonde himself died, Tsunayoshi jumped right in with his Dying Will flames, glaring down Levi as he proclaimed he couldn't stand to watch his comrades die right before his eyes, without doing anything about it.

Something in him flared, reaching out to look for the connection of chakra. Outwardly, he let out a loud laugh – loud enough to attract the attention of those below. He merely grinned down, his eyes flashing and his gaze rested on Tsuna, who looked ready to _fight_ even though the Flames were already dispersing.

 _This kid is just like you_. He couldn't help but think to Naruto fondly.

"That was probably the _stupidest_ thing you could have done! Didn't you hear the rules, idiot?" He taunted, jumping down from his perch, in front of the brat. (Not _the_ Brat, but just _brat_.

"Of course, I _heard the rules_! But do you really think I would just twiddle my thumbs while Lambo was getting killed?!" He practically growled. His whole body was tense, like he was ready to spring right at him if he needed to.

For a moment, his furious brown eyes seemed to be blue, his wild hair looked blonde and there were whisker-birthmarks on his cheeks. Instead of on top of the roof, they were in a jail cell – _his cell_ —

With a scowl, he snapped himself out of the memory, turning to the nearest judge and trying to ignore his chakra and the seal burning on his chest. "Just announce the results of the match already."

She winced back just slightly, but overall remained composed. "…Levi-a-than has won the battle. The ring of Thunder and Ring of Sky…will be given to the Varia."

Tsuna's side was in immediate uproar, except for Reborn and Iemitsu, his friends protested Tsuna's ring getting taken.

"Wait! That's wrong!" Basil yelled, "Tsuna didn't officially enter the battlefield!"

"He obstructed the field." She replied calmly. "That counts as obstructing the match."

"Lambo was already unconscious when I destroyed the things." Tsuna grumbled as he pulled off his ring from around his neck, looking Xanxus straight in the eye as he did so. The other necklace, a bright blue stone, poked out from under his shirt.

He grinned as he took the ring, trying to ignore the pang of _familiarity._ ( _Naruto loved that necklace Tsunade gave him. He never took it off_.) "Well that's boring, don't you agree?"

"Fuck you."

"Oh, shut up, brat!" He held back from hitting the kid over the head like he would do to Naruto. "I was just going to give you an offer. _If_ you can win the battles by majority, you get this ring back and we will fight."

There was a flash in his eyes, something familiar and _excited_ and Xanxus held back a laugh. Turning his back from Naru- _Tsunayoshi,_ he walked directly towards Squalo and the others. Though they seemed to be snickering and smug, Squalo's eyes were narrowed.

Ah shit. He'd almost forgotten about the fact that he pretty much disappeared. Behind him, the next match was announced – Bel would be fighting next.

He glanced over at the kid in question. He…reminded him of other people. His youngest brother, mostly. Shukaku was always a little shit, even more so when he got sealed into Garaa. Bel…had the _feel_ Shukaku always gave off. (Which was, being a piece of shit brat)

"Where did you go?" Squalo immediately asked him as soon as he was close enough.

"A place." He answered shortly, before smirking. "Were you _worried_?"

"Of course not!" Squalo scowled, turning away just before Xanxus could see the flash of pink on his cheeks.

Tilting his head slightly, he shrugged to himself and walked off, not bothering to check if the others were following. He had a seal to look into after all.

O~O~O

Far enough not to be heard, but close enough to see the results of the battle, an illusionist sighed to himself as he eyed the ring on his finger. Tsunayoshi Sawada hasn't changed at all – in personality at least. He could tell he's become _much_ stronger since their battle…

He chuckled to himself. Odd, how much he was focused on meeting the young Vongola again. Perhaps because he was now _positive_ of the theory he had formed when they first fought.

The young Vongola's soul was like his. It has died and come back.

With a smirk, he turned away from the scene.

"I can hardly wait to see you again…Tsunayoshi Sawada."

* * *

 **You know, funny thing, as I was writing the past Kurama & Sakura bromance, I realized their relationship was hinting at something more romantic by accident. _Whoops_. I toned down his mentions of Sakura because of that while editing. I already have an idea of how his time, after Naruto's death, went and _yeah_. But who knows. When I get to the chapter where he explains what happened, I could have said "fuck it" by then and made it romantic. **

**Either way, my updates are definitely going to be slow because of the moving preparations and my focus on college classes - sorry about that! But I am definitely not planning to drop this story, even as I get other ideas -side eyes my Danny Phantom AU and Blue Exorcist AU-**

 **Oh! And remember, you can always ask me questions and get direct answers on Tumblr pandoradoodlebox I'm not very good at answering reviews on here...mostly because I forget to and I dislike the mobile set up a bit. Plus, I'm always on tumblr and getting notifications on there. **

**Well, see you guys next time!**


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